


What Happens When You Adopt An Alien? (or two)?

by Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Found Family, Maddie and Tom are just out there adopting children, Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog are Brothers, Sonic - Freeform, but I honestly suck at writing it so who know if its even angsty?, but I promise it's gonna get to the family fluff stuff soon, but mostly cute random things with the fam interacting, honestly i can't tag, learning how to be close, lmao ok so there's quite a bit of angst rn, sliggghhhhhht angst, that sorta stuff, the movie was honestly so good, this family is awesome, wowee it took that tag and made it seem serious but yea they bros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23136151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid/pseuds/Anti_Social_Headphones_Kid
Summary: Shortly after Sonic moves in with the Wachowski's, he realizes that it still feels like something's missing, even if he can't seem to remember what.(Meanwhile, Tom and Maddie seem to have a knack for adopting aliens)
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Miles "Tails" Prower & Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower & Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Maddie Wachowski
Comments: 87
Kudos: 551





	1. A Walk Through the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAH I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS FAMILY!!!! 
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!!

It was still a little hard for the Wachowski’s to accept that not only had there been a maniac with an army of advanced weapons after them, but there had also been an actual alien involved too- and was still involved.

The first week after the whole incident, Sonic had been by their house every day, staying as long as he reasonably could before the couple told him to go get some rest- and he had reluctantly listened.

The second week though, he wasn’t staying nearly as long, often leaving before they asked him too, but he was still coming back daily.

The third week though…

In the third week, he hadn’t shown up yet- but it was only one day, so maybe he just needed a break? After all, he hadn’t had a day completely to himself yet, and going from total isolation to suddenly able to interact with people again must’ve been a huge change, one deserving of a break.

But when he didn’t come back the second day in a row, they started getting worried.

“What if the government found out he was still here?” Tom asked worriedly after Sonic still hadn’t appeared for dinner. “They could’ve taken him away.”

“I’m sure he would’ve run here as soon as he saw them,” Maddie tried to reason, but couldn’t help feeling nervous herself. 

“Maybe… I wish I had asked him to show us where he lived- should we go look for him?”

Maddie sighed, realizing that she wasn’t immediately opposed to the idea- even though it was the middle of the night. But Sonic had been living on his own for this long… oh god.

“Has he really been alone all this time?” She asked suddenly.

“For all the time he’s been on Earth at least," Tom answered, slowing realizing what that meant. "He hasn’t talked much about his time before that, but that means he’s been alone for… ten years?”

“How old do you think he is?” Maddie wondered, feeling her chest tighten. Sonic acted like a kid- that much was certain- but it hadn’t even crossed her mind that he  _ was _ a kid _ , _ living alone somewhere, and not even in a real home, but in a burrow somewhere in the forest.

Apparently Tom hadn’t thought of that either as his eyes widened and he looked at her seriously. “He-he's probably just a kid still… and he’s living alone. That’s it, we should look for him, right?” Tom asked, the worry in his eyes evident.

“He might be back in the morning,” Maddie reminded him. “If not, I'll have the morning off work, so I can go look for him- it’ll probably be easier in the daylight.”

Thankfully, that didn’t need to happen since the blue hedgehog was back the next morning.

“G’morning Pretzel Lady!” He greeted cheerfully as he was let inside by Maddie. 

“Good morning Sonic,” she replied, not caring to hide the relief in her voice as Tom stepped out from the kitchen, smiling at the kid as he walked up to them.

“Hey kid, it’s good to see you, we were worried for a second there,” Tom stated, clearly more relaxed now that he saw he was alright, while Sonic took a step back towards the door, confusion clear on his face.

“Yo-you were worried about me? Why?” he asked with a nervous laugh, suddenly seeming uncomfortable, causing the couple to exchange a look of confusion themself.

“You’ve been gone the past two days is all,” Maddie said gently. “We were just worried, we’re not mad or anything,” she promised, wondering if that’s what his nervousness was about. But apparently it hadn’t done much to calm him, and he remained in the doorway, fidgeting instead of just heading in like he normally did- usually to the kitchen to get some food.

“Why don’t you join us for breakfast,” Tom suggested, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had come over the room, hoping that if they acted normal than Sonic would be more comfortable.

Thankfully that worked, and soon they were sitting around the table together eating, although the blue hedgehog was noticeably less talkative than normal.

“So Sonic,” Maddie began after realizing that he’d been silent for more than five minutes- probably a record. “I was thinking that after we’re done, maybe we could go for a walk together?”

“A walk?” He repeated skeptically. “Like what you do with Ozzie?”

Tom stifled a laugh as Maddie realized that Sonic was technically also an animal, so it  _ was _ a somewhat reasonable assumption to make. 

“Well, we’ll take Ozzie too, but you won’t be on a leash,” she promised.

“Oh, ok- where are we going?”

“I was thinking about taking one of the paths in the forest,” she suggested, sipping her tea. “You live there, right? Maybe you can show me where you live?”

“Oh! Um, sure,” he answered nervously, his feet beginning to kick rapidly under the table. “It’s not really much though…”

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want,” she replied gently after seeing the spike in nervousness. 

“No- of course you can come, just don’t… it’s kinda just a hole in the ground, so don’t expect a lot.”

Maddie shared a smile with Tom, who was looking relieved that they would know where he lived. They didn’t want to intrude on his space, but it would be one less thing to worry about if they at least knew he was safe… Even though worrying about a blue hedgehog from space hadn’t actually  _ been _ on their list of worries until a few weeks ago, neither of them minded as long as it meant Sonic was ok.

* * *

“Ugghhhhhhhhh,” the hedgehog groaned as he continued to keep pace with Maddie, although obviously not enjoying it very much. “How does anyone get anywhere moving this slow? It’s  _ torture _ .”

Maddie laughed as she once again stopped to let Ozzie sniff out a stray leaf on the ground.

“I think it’s nice to slow down sometimes,” she replied genuinely. “You can take in a lot more and enjoy the scenery.”

At hearing this, Sonic looked around at where they were… it was the forest- where he had lived for the majority of his life. But admittedly for all the time he spent roaming through the trees, it wasn’t often that he slowed down to look around like this, and it was sorta nice.

It was pretty warm outside, but the trees protected them from being scorched by the heat of the sun, and filtered the daylight through the leaves in a peaceful way, with each small breeze shifting the leaves ever-so-slightly. It was strangely calming to go at a slower pace- he regretted not trying it before- but then again, he was always afraid of being caught if he went too slow, so this was sort of a new sensation for him.

He looked back to where Maddie was walking behind him and slowed down to walk by her side. Just a month ago, he never would’ve thought this was possible, to be seen by someone again- to  _ talk  _ to someone- y’ know,  _ other _ than observant Carl- but he wasn’t entirely sure if that had counted since he'd been seen more like some random mythical creature rather than… some random alien creature- with the added bonus of having feelings (and super-speed, but whatever). 

But now here he was, with Pretzel Lady, in plain sight.

It was weird.

For the first few weeks, he'd been ecstatic- he could finally have an  _ actual _ conversation with someone other than himself! It took a lot of getting used to… no, he still wasn’t used to it, and he was pretty sure he still talked waaay too much, but it was hard to stop after always being used to filling conversations lags and silences by yourself,  _ with  _ yourself.

It’d been amazing to finally talk to people… But then pretty soon the doubt hit.

Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady had been so nice to him the past few weeks, they gave him actual real food that  _ wasn’t _ from the trash, they let him sit in on their movie nights, and sometimes they’d even take him around town!

But somewhere along the way, he realized they were probably getting sick of him. It wasn’t like he could stay around forever, right?

He glanced up at Maddie, wondering why she had asked him to come along. She wouldn’t have asked him if she didn’t want him there, right?

But she was also always telling him he should get more sleep, or showing him what foods were good for him (apparently a diet based entirely on chili-dogs  _ wasn’t  _ healthy). He couldn’t help but wonder if she saw him only as a patent- but that didn’t feel quite right. He’d seen the way she treated the animals at her clinic, and it was a lot different. 

But then what was he to her? 

“So,” Maddie suddenly spoke up, cutting into his thoughts. “You live around here?”

He nodded and quickly darted off towards his home before just-as-quickly remembering that she didn’t share his speed, and darted back to where he had left them.

“Sorry, I forget,” he said with a nervous laugh. “But it’s pretty close by… I dunno how far it is by walking distance though…”

“It’s fine,” she assured him. “I’m enjoying the walk.”

So they returned to silently walking through the woods, only stopping every once in a while as Ozzie found something new to investigate, before moving on again.

It was a strange feeling, to be in silence, but still _ with _ someone. He was so used to it only ever being himself, where he needed to keep up a constant stream of chatter so it felt less empty, so he felt less alone…

Then there were the times where he was surrounded by people, but could never say a word, and that made him feel even  _ more _ alone.

He wasn’t exactly sure what his relationship was with the Wachowski’s, but right now he was just happy to not feel alone.

He led them off the main pathway and through the trees, turning at the particular ones he had gotten used to remembering- although he’d never actually taken a good look at them until now... maybe going slow every once in a while  _ did _ have its merits- not that he’d ever admit it.

Finally after about fifteen more minutes of walking around trees, and second-guessing where he was going (it looked so much different when you walked slowly) they finally reached his home.

“Here we are!” he announced, spreading his arms dramatically in reveal. 

“Here?”

“Well, this is just the outside- follow me- but uh,  _ he’s _ not allowed inside,” Sonic said, waving off Ozzie.

“Of course,” Maddie agreed with a good-natured laugh, stopping to tie Ozzie’s leash to a nearby tree root before following Sonic’s lead into his home.

As soon as they were both down, Sonic quickly realized he had no clue what he was supposed to do when people came over to his house. He knew that offering food was pretty much a given, but he didn’t really have much food to offer- and showing her around wasn’t going to take long since this room was pretty much the extent of his house.

Still though, he had a bunch of stuff he’d collected over the years, and that was probably better than nothing, right?

So he did his best to keep her entertained, going through his comic collection, showing her his beanbag chair- all that fun stuff- although he decidedly ignored the sack of rings hanging by the entrance. Honestly speaking, he didn’t like to look at them very often since the whole incident.

He had decided to stay on earth, and that was that… although he also found himself slightly afraid. The planet he had banished that Egghead to had been among the last few options for him to go, and if he  _ did _ have to leave…

No, there was no point in thinking about it.

But he still found it lingering in his mind as he walked with Maddie back to her house. He didn’t want to leave- especially now that he had actual friends- but what if someone from Mobius came for him? What would he do then?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> Lemme know if you wanna see this continue!! This was just sort of a spur of the moment thing, but it was really fun, so I'd totally do more if people wanted it!!


	2. Where is Home?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened in the two days Sonic was gone
> 
> &
> 
> The Wachowski's decide to house an Alien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support!!!
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this next chapter!!!

_ 2 Days ago _ :

Ok, so he’d been going to the Wachowski’s every day for the past week now, and it'd been going well…

Well, he  _ thought _ it'd been going well, but honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was good at reading people since the only other person he'd ever really spoken to since coming to earth was himself… 

That, and he had had an imaginary friend for a bit, but that probably still counted as talking to himself, right?

Whatever, either way, he figured he probably wasn’t any good at reading people.

It was just that these past two weeks had been so much fun… but maybe he was the only one who had felt that way? After all, they had always been telling him when to go to bed, trying to get him to leave- and why shouldn’t they want him to leave? He was an alien, all he ever did was intrude in their space and take their food, even though they  _ were _ the ones to offer it.

“Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady aren’t like that though,” he argued with himself. “If they wanted me gone, they wouldn’t be treating me this nicely, right?”

“But they’re also really nice people- they probably treat everyone this way,” he shot back.

“Is it wrong of me to wanna spend time with them? I’ve been alone for  _ so long _ -”

“And if you keep annoying them to death, then you’ll  _ be _ alone all over again.”

The other Sonic apparently didn’t have a reply for that, so he stood still, alone without his double made of speed.

“Ugh, what am I doing?” he asked himself, collapsing onto the beanbag chair, staring up at the ceiling, already missing Tom and Maddie. He hated that feeling.

He had spent so much of his first few years alone missing Longclaw before he decided to stop thinking about her altogether- it was too painful, so he had tried locking away any of his memories from Mobius, and focused instead on the here and now- even though that longing to be with someone again never really went away, at least forgetting he ever had it in the first place seemed to help- or it used to help, anyways.

Now here he was, not even forced to never see them again, but he was already missing them… and he hated it.

“They don’t need me hanging around and annoying them all the time,” he reminded himself. “And I’m totally fine being alone for a few days- it's not like they’re going to forget about me, right? I’m pretty memorable…”

Still, it pained him when he was met with the usual silence. Unable to take it anymore, he hopped up from where he was sitting and out of the cave, going for a run.

_ Never stop running _ , that’s what he had been told- but what if he was tired of running? Well, not tired of running _ physically _ , since it was one of his favourite things to do- and who  _ wouldn’t _ love super speed? But he was tired of running away, tired of always being afraid, tired of losing people.

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of these thoughts, but they just kept coming back. Pushing himself to go faster and farther, he tried to outrun them, twisting through the trees, blowing up a wake of fallen leaves in his trail as he made his way through the forest, the pathways familiar, but only in a blurry sort of way.

He’d already lost people, he didn’t want to lose the Wachowski’s too- but what if he did? And what if this time it was still his fault? They didn’t have to worry about that ‘Eggman’ anymore, but what if this time he lost them because they didn’t like him? Or because they realized what a burden he was on people?

Up ahead of him the path ended, giving way to a cliffside overlooking the woods, as he allowed his feet to finally halt to a stop.

Breathing hard, he sat down to rest, looking at the world around him- It was one of his favourite places to relax since it made the world seem so big, reminding him he wasn’t stuck on a single island like before. Earth was his home now, but right when he'd gotten the chance to have a family of his own, he had begun to hesitate.

He was so used to running away, and to people  _ wanting _ him to run away, that he wasn’t sure if anyone would ever actually want him to stay.

Curling up into a ball, he tried to ignore his racing thoughts, shutting his eyes and wishing they would go away, tired from running, and tired from frustration. Eventually, he found himself drifting off to sleep, as his thoughts quietly faded out.

The next day he woke up, still laying on the cliffside, being met with the unfortunate realization that he’d spent the night outside.

He groaned and got up, his back slightly sore from sleeping on the solid ground- he really didn't miss those early days when he had first arrived, sleeping on the ground outside, trying to find a place he could use as a shelter before finally coming across the cave and beginning to build a home (of sorts) there.

Brushing himself off, he got up and prepared to return to the cave- and maybe find something to eat- he was  _ starving _ .

He darted off, back towards his home, hardly having to think about where he was going, instead just letting his feet guide him to where he knew best-

He stopped.

Without thinking, he had run to Tom and Maddie’s house instead.

“Stupid feet,” he mumbled to himself. “I said I wanted to go  _ home _ .” He paused, looking up at the warm-looking house, where he could hear the barks of Ozzie from the inside, where he knew where every room was, and where the best people in the world lived. It was everything he thought of when he thought of ‘home.’

But he couldn’t help but wonder if he really belonged there, so he darted off back to his cave, leaving the visit for tomorrow when hopefully things wouldn’t be so muddled with emotion- besides, it’s not like they would notice, right?

Yeah, no, they noticed.

He realized that as soon as he saw their faces the next day, and the way they were treating him… it almost reminded him of how worried Longclaw would get whenever he was away too long. 

No, they weren’t like her, they were just worried because they were friends!

He didn’t understand  _ why _ they were so concerned though since it wasn't like he was in any sort of danger, but they had said they were worried about him… 

It felt weird. But it also felt kinda nice.

* * *

Maddie couldn’t get it out of her head that Sonic was living in a cave- a literal cave. 

Of course, that was always what he'd called it before, but it was different actually  _ seeing _ it, along with seeing all his stuff… he really was just a kid, wasn’t he? She hadn’t even seen a bed in there- or a heater for that matter- it got pretty cold at night, was he ok during the winter?

Thankfully, Sonic didn’t seem to notice her worried silence on the way back, instead, he had seemingly regained his usual enthusiasm somewhat, and kept up a constant stream of conversation as they walked back to their house.

“I’m gonna go for a run,” he announced as the house came into sight. “All this walking has me antsy- I dunno how you guys do it all the time.”

Maddie gave a small laugh and reached to pet his head, noticing how he slightly tensed a bit at the feel of her hand.

“Why don’t you join us for dinner and a movie tonight?” She offered. “That is if you don’t have any other plans.”

“Ha! You know I don’t!” He said enthusiastically with finger guns, before quickly lowering them. “That’s not exactly something I should be proud of, so I’m just gonna head out before this becomes any more awkward,” he stated with a quick wave before darting off into the forest.

Meanwhile, Maddie made her way back inside, her mind still on what she saw- it wasn’t like it was the  _ worst _ condition for living, and he had definitely tried to make the best of it, but it broke her heart when she saw that he really was just a kid, and he'd been alone this whole time…

Just then, her phone rang- Tom was calling.

“Hey Hon,” he greeted once she picked up. “How was your morning?”

She sighed as she tried to collect her thoughts about this whole situation. 

“Tom,” she started softly. “Whenever he called his home a ‘cave,’ did you ever really think about what that meant?”

“No,” he admitted after a few seconds. “I just… no.”

“Neither did I, but… he really is- he’s living in a cave- he’s making the best of it, but I’m just worried is all. What did he do for food? What  _ is _ he doing for food when he’s not eating here? Tom, he didn’t even have a bed,” she told him, biting her lip in worry.

The other end of the line was silent for a bit, neither of them saying a word.

“I mean, the attic’s free,” Tom stated suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Do you think he’d want to?” She asked, realizing what he meant.

“Well, he’s pretty much always here anyways, and at least here he wouldn’t have to worry about the government,” he pointed out, not bothering to mention that this way they’d also be a lot less worried.

After that suggestion, they found themselves talking about it for a while, discussing what needed to be done to get the attic into proper order- although neither of them doubted for a second that they would enjoy having him living with them- they had only spent a few weeks knowing him, but they already knew that they wanted to keep him in their lives.

* * *

The blue hedgehog returned for dinner as promised, though he still remained out of sorts, not talking nearly as much as he normally did- but at least he still responded to every few questions, just not going off on his usual tangents.

“Thanks for having me over, but I should probably get back home now,” he said cheerfully as he finished, although the cheerfulness seemed forced.

“You don’t have to go right away- you can stay for a movie,” Tom offered, but the hedgehog shook his head.

“Thanks, but I don’t wanna get in the way of your personal time.”

“But you  _ are _ included in our personal time,” Maddie told him honestly, apparently catching him off-guard, causing him to freeze momentarily before resuming his usual casualness.

“Um, well I should still get going- full eight hours of sleep and all that!” he excused, even though everyone there knew he didn't have anywhere to be the next day.

“Just wait,” she stopped him, quickly heading to the kitchen and bringing back a small bag of various fruits, along with some vegetables. “I noticed you didn’t have much fresh fruit back at your cave,” she mentioned, choosing not to say anything about the lack of food in general, and handing the bag to him, which he took very gently, looking confused as he did.

“You guys don’t have to do this,” Sonic mumbled quietly.

“Do what?”

“You don’t have to keep hanging out with me, and like, doing stuff for me just ‘cause you feel bad… I can take care of myself,” he stated, refusing to look them in the eyes, instead, he was focusing on tugging his gloves nervously.

“Sonic,” Tom started gently, waiting for the blue hedgehog to look up at him before continuing. “We like it when you’re here, and we do these things for you because we  _ care _ .”

Sonic’s eyes widened at that last word, before quickly looking away and wrapping his arms around himself.

“You… you don’t have to… to care,” he mumbled quietly in reply.

“Yeah, you’re right bud, we don’t  _ have  _ to, but we  _ want _ to- that’s the difference.”

“You  _ want _ to?” he asked unsurely. 

The hesitant expression on his face was enough to break the couple’s hearts, causing Maddie to kneel beside him and gently hug him, surprising him for a moment before he leaned into her.

“This is nice,” he mumbled quietly into her shoulder, leading Tom to smile softly, kneeling to join in the hug as well.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” Maddie offered, pulling away from the hug, and studying his face. 

“You… you don’t mind?” he asked shyly.

“Of course not!”

He nodded slowly. “Yes please, then.”

The couple grinned at each other, glad he felt comfortable enough to stay over with them.

* * *

Over the next few days, Tom and Maddie got to work on the attic, getting it into shape and decorating it- thankfully since Maddie knew where he lived, she was able to bring his items from the cave there so it felt more like home to him, while Tom took him grocery shopping- which worked in distracting him for longer than the officer anticipated.

It was worth it in the end though, since finally, he would have a real home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided not to expand on the room scene since we all know what happened, so there’s not really a point to it!! 
> 
> I hope it didn’t make the ending feel too rushed though, I tried my best to make it seem natural, but I think I sorta failed XD
> 
> Thank you sososo much for all your comments and kudos!!!! it really motivated me, and I was so super happy to see that people wanted to see more!!


	3. The Sound of Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic isn't afraid of storms...
> 
> No really, he's not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I know most of the fics out there with Tails have like, an actual plot, but this is literally just going to be family bonding, since it's really fun to write!!

Sonic sat up in bed with a start, having been woken up by the sound of thunder. 

Without realizing his surroundings, he felt himself looking for something- or was it  _ someone _ ? It didn’t matter- he just knew he had to find…

He paused, finally realizing he was in his room lying in his racecar bed as the rain poured outside, only for his surroundings to be lit up briefly by lightning before fading back into darkness.

Despite the comfort of his room- which had been thrown into a relaxed mess a little over a week of staying there- he found it hard to fight the feeling of panic as his hands grasped the edge of his blankets, looking to hold something, counting the seconds between thunder and lightning strikes, even though he wasn’t sure exactly what that meant- he only remembered being told to do that once before if he was ever scared…

But that was the strange thing- he wasn’t afraid- and not just in his usual denial (like when he said he  _ totally  _ wasn’t afraid of water), but in an honest-to-goodness he-could-generate-his-own-form-of-lightning so why would he be afraid? sort of way.

Though even despite that, for as long as he could remember, he always had this strange sort of anxiety whenever there was a thunderstorm- like there was something he was supposed to be  _ doing _ , something he was supposed to be concerned about… he'd always wondered if Longclaw had warned him about his powers during a storm, but nothing had ever happened before- even when he had gone running during one to test out this theory.

Sighing, he flopped back down and stared at the ceiling, hoping this time he’d at least get back to sleep. Back when he lived alone, he had never been able to return to sleep until the storm was over- which was fine- but now that he had actual par-uhhhh  _ roommates _ who would most definitely be concerned if he stayed awake, he didn’t have much of a choice unless he wanted them to be needlessly worried the next morning.

Unfortunately, though, the storm didn’t let up until it was much too late, resulting in less than a good night’s sleep.

* * *

He trudged into the kitchen the next morning, too tired to care if he came across ‘too tired.’

It wasn’t like he  _ hadn’t _ wanted sleep, that’s just the way it ended up working.

He joined Tom and Maddie after quickly grabbing the ‘lucky charms,’ a bowl and some milk, filling it to the brim with sugary flakes and marshmallows (admittedly by accident, but he was too tired to do anything about it now).

“Whoa there Blue Devil,” Tom stopped him as he saw how full his bowl was. “I don’t think that’s the healthiest choice.”

“I need the energy Donut Lord.”

“And  _ we _ need you not to have a sugar rush… again,” he stated, grabbing the bowl and dumping about half of it back into the box before getting up to put some bread in the toaster as an alternative.

“Is everything ok?” Maddie asked, ever observant as she took note of the bags under his eyes.

“Mmhm,” he lied, sitting up straighter and widening his eyes to look more awake. “Never better- how’re you?” 

Suddenly the rumble of thunder sounded throughout the room, causing Sonic to once again tense up at the sound of it.

“You ok kid?” Tom asked, eying him with concern, as Sonic realized whatever-it-was that happened during storms was happening again and forced himself to relax a bit.

“Yep, totally fine, thanks,” he replied casually, quickly pouring some milk and putting a spoonful of cereal in his mouth before he could begin any sort of nervous rambling.

Unfortunately, even without his rambling, the two adults picked up on this small panic.

_ Great _ .

“They said there’s going to be thunderstorms on and off all day,” Maddie stated, eying the blue hedgehog to see if he was ok. “I don’t want you running around in this sort of weather, ok?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it,” he said quickly, hoping it didn’t sound too suspicious- although he winced as he realized his tone of voice had probably given him away.

“Sonic… are you afraid of thunderstorms?” Maddie asked gently.

“Wh-what? No I- I can shoot lightning out of  _ myself _ \- why would I be afraid of some stupid storm?”

“Hey, kid,” Tom gently put his hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting you’re afraid of it- heck, I used to be terrified of thunder- ok?”

He nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. He  _ wasn’t _ afraid of thunder, but every time he heard it, his heart beat a little faster than normal (even for him), and he felt like there was something wrong, like he had to do something- that was a sign he was afraid, right?

“Ok…” he finally admitted. “Maybe I’m scared of it? I-I don’t know… I don’t think I am, but I feel so scared- why am I so scared?” He asked, his voice breaking a bit towards the end.

Tom and Maddie glanced at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation for a few seconds before both of them nodded in agreement on something.

“Tell you what,” Tom said decidedly. “I’m gonna call Wade and get him to cover my shift- we can just hang out here and watch movies today- does that sound good?

“Wha- you don’t need to stay just for me, I’m fine, I’m not even  _ scared _ \- and even if I was, it’s not like I’d  _ die _ or something! I’ve lived through plenty of thunderstorms before.”

“You don’t wanna spend the day with the Donut Lord?” Tom asked in mock aghast. “I’m hurt, really.”

Sonic gave a weak laugh. “No, ‘course I do, it’s just I feel bad…”

“You shouldn’t- it’s a perfect excuse for a day off. I’m going to go call Wade,” he announced, giving Sonic a small pat on the head, and briefly stopping to give Maddie a light kiss on her cheek before heading to grab his phone.

“I need to head to the clinic- I’m already booked up today for patients- but I’ll come back as soon as work is over, ok?” She reassured, giving him a quick hug before heading out the door.

Sonic waited alone for a few minutes, listening to the sound of the rain as it continued to patter outside. The morning light was muted from the overcast sky, reminding him a bit of the way Longclaw’s hut was always a little dark, being hidden among the trees.

“Alright bud, it looks like I can stay with you today,” Tom stated as he walked back in the room. “So, what should we do first?”

Sonic grinned, already forming in his head a list of his favourite tv shows and movies they could watch together.

* * *

True to his word, Tom stayed by the blue hedgehog for most of the day, even when it seemed like the storm had finally let up.

It was his first time having someone else with him during a storm, and as embarrassing as it was to have someone see him like this, it felt kinda nice too.

Unfortunately though, it seemed like the storm was only intent on getting worse, causing the worried feeling in his chest to grow with each passing moment.

He tried to shake the feeling and focus on the movie, but it honestly wasn’t very captivating to him- after allowing Sonic to choose most of the movies for the day, Tom had finally decided to pick one himself- ‘ _ the Fox and the Hound’ _ was apparently one of Donut Lord’s favourites, but it was honestly just really sad so far- and they hadn’t even made it twenty minutes through yet- there was just something about it that felt like a punch to his gut.

He tried to focus on the movie, but just then, another round of thunder rumbled, this time much closer, and before he could think to stop himself, Sonic clung onto Tom’s arm, closing his eyes and counting.

_ 1… 2… 3…  _

Suddenly he felt his head being rubbed gently, and he quickly opened his eyes, realizing that the movie had been paused.

“Hey, bud?” 

_ Shoot _ \- he had lost it again, hadn’t he?

“I’m sorry-” he faltered, quickly letting go of the Donut Lord’s arm. 

“Sonic, you don’t have to apologize for anything- being afraid is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But I’m not afraid! I’m not- I’m…” he put his head in his hands, unsure what was happening. It’d been happening pretty much all his life, and even though he never understood it, he never had to explain himself either, because there was no one to explain it to…

“Kid, whatever it is, you can tell me,” Tom reassured, placing an arm around his shoulders gently. “And if you don’t feel like talking about it right now, that’s ok too- but it might help you feel better.”

“I… I  _ want _ to talk about it, but I don’t even know what it is I’m feeling,” he admitted finally. “I’m not afraid of thunder or lightning, or anything like that- I’ve even gone running during storms before ‘cause I wanted to see if that’d stop me from feeling like this, but it never did… I  _ always  _ feel like there’s something I’m supposed to be doing, or taking care of, but I can never place it.”

“Have you always felt like that?” Tom asked in genuine curiosity, still gently petting the hedgehog on his head as Sonic leaned into his side, calming down a bit.

“I think so… Once, I even pretended I had an imaginary friend who was scared of storms,” he confessed with a laugh. “I had to comfort him, and count the seconds between storms… that was the one thing that actually made me feel better, I dunno why.”

Tom smiled sadly, once again reminded of how lonely this kid had been, but glad to see he was opening up a bit. “An imaginary friend, huh?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “It was pretty funny now that I think about it- but I still remember some things…” Sonic frowned as he remembered. “Sometimes it almost felt real.”

“And that made you feel better?”

He nodded slowly in reply as he tried to remember what his imaginary friend looked like… it had been so long since he’d thought about that- it always seemed to make him sad for some reason.

“Well, I dunno if it would help, but Ozzie could probably use some comfort,” Tom suggested, leaning down to pet the dog. “Wanna give it a try?”

“I guess,” he shrugged, hopping off the couch and beside the dog on the floor, giving him a few gentle pats until a large boom came again, and he hugged the dog closer, giving him soft pats despite the dog not being afraid.

“Does that feel better?” Tom asked.

“Yeah… a little,” he admitted his face half into the dog's fur. It felt calming, and almost familiar, even though he still felt a bit of worry for whatever reason.

“Good- is there anything else to make it better?”

“No, this actually feels nice- can we finish the movie now?” he asked quietly, and Tom obliged, starting it up again, taking his eyes away from the screen and onto the blue hedgehog every time there was another rumble, but Sonic was beginning to feel ok- or at least a little more ok- he was still pretty tired from the previous night/super early morning… but he was calmer now, so maybe he could just close his eyes for a few seconds…

He drifted off to sleep.

In the back of his mind, he could still hear the thunder, but in his dreams he was holding closely an orange fox kit, staying by his side and quietly taking care of him as the kit trembled in fear every time another rumble was heard. It felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the whole Tails & thunderstorms is such a cliche in the fandom, especially in fics, but it's honestly one of my favourite tropes, so what the heck
> 
> and sorta thought it’d be a cute chapter idea if Sonic was still worried if Tails was alright even though he’s not with him!! I hope you enjoyed!!


	4. A Walk in the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Maddie take Sonic around town, and Sonic wonders about best friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid this chapter is very late, and a little short... sorry, I'm very bad with schedules XD
> 
> also I'm really sad cuz the cherry blossom festival was cancelled where I live ;-; I totally understand why though, and I hope that everyone stays safe, wherever you are <3
> 
> (please stay safe!!)

The weekend was probably Sonic’s favourite time of week since it usually meant that Tom and Maddie were both home all day, for two whole days (other than the rare occasion when one of them had a work emergency, but for the most part they were always free).

And the best part about it was that it was another opportunity to go around town and actually experience the view he'd been watching from the sidelines for so long.

It was a little bit odd to finally not worry about hiding, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t ever hidden behind Tom or Maddie out of instinct as someone walked their way, but seeing as he was an actual alien, the townsfolk seemed to have accepted him pretty easily, treating him just like they would a normal kid- except maybe for the now-named ‘Observant Carl,’ who seemed to be more attached (and protective) of him than most of the town.

But besides getting to know the people better, he was also getting to experience what normal life on earth was like- going grocery shopping (which was sooooo much better than going through trash cans, by the way), going out for dinner, or even just walking around in public… it was nice.

And today, thankfully, looked like it was a good day to be outside, as Sonic stared out his window, gazing through the early morning light at the clear skies aa a gentle breeze passed by, ruffling the leaves in the trees- it looked perfect.

He was in his room, waiting to hear the sounds of Tom and Maddie waking up so he could head down, but for right now he was content to just watch the sunrise in peace, watching as the warm light shone on the treetops, giving everything a golden glow.

Even though it had already been more than a few weeks of being out of hiding and living with the Wachowski’s, a part of him felt like this was too good to be true, that it wasn’t real, or that maybe he would wake up again one day with no one around- but thankfully that never proved to be true, and he woke up in the comfort of his bed in the wooden attic, full with a mixture of his own stuff, and new stuff he had received from Tom and Maddie.

He had to admit, it was nice to live indoors where it was pretty much always warm- not to mention he was safe from the rain now too.

An added bonus was that it didn’t always smell like dirt, which was an inescapable factor that came with living in the literal ground. 

He quietly walked over to the window, enjoying the free view of the forest, as the trees peacefully waved in the wind, smiling softly as he remembered the view from Longclaw’s hut, high in the treetops… It had always felt so peaceful there. And despite the relative safety of his cave, he hadn’t ever really felt the same sort of peace again until now.

Finally, he heard the faintest bit of sound coming from below him (which was quite possibly Ozzie, but it was as good an excuse as any), and darted to the latch, opening it as quietly as he was able to, before heading down and lowering the volume on the tv, turning it on, and flipping through the channels at an alarming rate until he settled on one of the old Star Wars movies, enjoying the fact that he could watch up close now instead of just watching from afar, hoping that it’d be something he liked, and to a greater extent, hoping that the window would be open so he could hear.

He didn’t have to wait too long until Maddie came down, turning off the tv when she did and following her into the kitchen, smiling contentedly when she greeted him with a gentle pat on his head, serving as a warm and comforting reminder that he wasn’t alone.

“Good morning sweetie,” she said as she lifted her hand off his head and went to pour some water in the kettle. “Did you have a good sleep last night?”

“Yeah, of course! I don’t think it’s possible to have a bad sleep in a bed like that- it’s sooooo comfy,” He replied excitedly- it really  _ was _ great to finally have a bed- he hadn’t had a bad night of sleep yet… well, except for the night where it had stormed, but that was normal for him! And he had even found a solution to it, so there was no point in thinking about it now…

But he just couldn’t help it. It was something that had been in his life for so long now, yet he'd only just started to question it recently. Before it had just been something that happened in his life, but he had never stopped to ask  _ why _ it happened.

“Hey buddy, are you ok?” Tom's voice cut through his thoughts, causing him to realize that he had zoned out, snapping him back to reality.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m good… just still waking up?” he asked more than said, but although the couple exchanged worried glances, neither of them said anything, which Sonic was more than grateful for. Instead, they began to discuss their plans for the day- he was particularly excited about the afternoon when they were going to watch the local junior league baseball team- tryouts weren’t until later in the year, but for now, he was just content to watch from the sidelines, and not from under them.

He was also looking forward to seeing some of his new friends from around town at the game, so overall it was pretty exciting.

He shook his head, clearing his mind from his previous questions and thoughts. Today was a new day, and he didn’t have to focus on problems from his past when there was the present bringing him new things with every second- and today was going to be a good day if he had anything to say about it.

And it was- for the most part anyway- they had walked around town and gotten to visit with the townsfolk, And they had, of course, stopped by the donut shop, which had begun to be a tradition for them on weekends.

Maddie had then suggested they talk a walk through the park, which was actually pretty fun. The open grass with trees all around made it relaxing to walk around- plus it was nearby the baseball field so they didn’t have to walk far when it started.

From across the grass, Sonic saw one of his friends, Cris, wave to him.

“Sonic, why don’t you go say hi to your friend while Tom and I go get coffee quickly?” Maddie suggested.

“But I thought I wasn’t allowed to have it?”

“Yes, but  _ we _ need it to keep up with you,” Maddie half-joked, ruffling his quills before she and Tom went across the street, leaving Sonic to run up to his friend.

The kid was a lot younger than him, but Sonic didn’t find it hard to talk with him. He had an older brother on the baseball team, and would often watch them practice- which is what Sonic was now allowed to do as well, so they ended up talking quite a bit as they watched, or sometimes even had practice matches of their own on the sidelines.

"Hey Cris, what're you doing here?"

"I'm just waiting for my mom," he explained. "She's shopping, so she let me come to the park to wait for her."

"Oh, nice," Sonic replied, nodding, although he wasn't sure why Cris didn't want to go grocery shopping since it was honestly a lot of fun. "So are you going to the baseball game today?"

"No, my brother's going, obviously, but my friend is visiting from far away this weekend, so me and my mom are waiting for him at home."

"You're friend is coming here?"

Cris nodded. “He moved away a few years ago, so we usually just talk online,” he explained. “But he’s finally coming to visit, and he’s even going to sleepover!”

“That sounds fun, you guys must be close,” Sonic smiled, as he saw how excited the kid was getting.

“Yep! He’s my best friend,” Cris replied happily.

“O-oh… that’s cool! I bet he’s fun to hang out with,” Sonic added, unsure why his emotions felt like they were wavering. He had known that Cris had a best friend, so that wasn't what was bothering him… it was more like he was just realizing that he didn’t have one.

Of course, there was Tom and Maddie, but he wasn’t exactly their best friend… he wasn’t entirely sure  _ what _ they were, but he didn’t really think they fell into the same category as ‘best friends.’

Cris’ mother called from across the park, so he quickly said goodbye and headed off, leaving Sonic alone to watch after him

He forced himself to walk away slowly, not wanting to draw obvious attention to himself by going fast, only this left him unsure if by going slow he was actually drawing  _ more _ attention to himself- or maybe no one was even looking his way in the first place, so he shouldn’t worry, right? Right.

Either way, he found himself alone in the park, sitting under a tall oak tree, as it cast its comfortable shade over him, with only a few spots of sunlight making it through the branches and onto the ground.

He watched as the other kids ran around, realizing that most of them probably had someone they considered to be their best friend as well.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, watching as the world seemed to move around him, but he was left frozen- it felt like the opposite of when he used his sonic-speed.

“Sonic, are you ok?” A voice spoke up suddenly, catching him off-guard. Looking up, he saw Maddie standing beside him, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m good- sorry, I was just… thinking.”

“Oh yeah? About what?” She asked, sitting down beside him.

“Well… it’s just, everyone has a best friend, right?”

“Awe, sweetie,” Maddie said knowingly, kneeling beside him. “I know this is probably very hard for you. I know how you feel- when I was around your age, I didn’t have a best friend either… I felt really alone.”

“Really? You? But you’re so awesome!”

She laughed and pulled him towards her for a slight squeeze. “A lot of people have a hard time making friends, but you just have to keep trying.”

Sonic stepped back from the hug and considered this. “Do you have a best friend now?”

“I do. I have a lot of friends, But Rachel is probably my best friend.”

“Rachel? You mean your sister who fainted when she saw me?”

Maddie laughed at the memory but nodded. “She’s always been there for me when I needed her… and she’s a little too overprotective, but I know she’s only doing it because she cares.”

“Well, Jojo’s pretty great, so your sister must be too,” he decided with a smile.

“She is, I promise- maybe we could go visit her again, get some proper introductions.”

“That’d be fun,” he said honestly as Tom walked up, holding two coffees and a water bottle, which he tossed to Sonic.

“The game’s starting soon, should we go?” Tom asked, and Sonic nodded excitedly in reply, feeling much better now as they headed off.

Still though, in the back of his mind, something was bugging him. It wasn’t that he was alone, because he had Maddie and Tom, but it was that his mind felt adamant that he  _ did _ have a best friend like he was forgetting someone- sorta like the guilt he had felt when they had watched ‘Inside Out’ for movie night, and he remembered his old imaginary friend, but couldn’t remember what they looked like.

Maybe that’s who he was thinking of?

But it didn’t matter, at least not anymore… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don’t think I made this as clear as I would’ve liked, but the reason why Sonic is remembering things about Tails now is because when he was alone he had pushed those memories away, but now that he’s with other people again, there are things that are bringing up those old memories, and the thunderstorm was the start of it since he already had a vague feeling during them anyways….
> 
> OK I HOPE THAT MADE SENSE- I’m going to try and explain it in the story anyway, but if it doesn’t come up naturally, I just wanted to save you guys an awkward exposition dump XD
> 
> (lol and yes I did name that random kid after Cris from Sonic-X, but he's not gonna show up again, I just needed him for that one scene XD)
> 
> Also thank you so much for all your comments!! they're so encouraging, so thank you!! I'm sorta super bad at replying though, sorry XD I have crippling social anxiety 
> 
> Anywaysssss- that's all for this time!! Thanks so much for reading!!


	5. Video Games & Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that the chapter is late again!! But thank you so much for all the support, it honestly means the world to me!! <3

Tom almost regretted showing Sonic their video game collection, since the hedgehog was a fast learner- which meant he was getting beat in pretty much every game.

“Haha! You can’t beat me Donut Lord, I’m too fast!” Sonic jeered as he once again passed the finish line first in Mario Kart. Despite the race not being with his feet, he had still been determined to be the fastest, both in real life  _ and _ in the games.

Tom groaned at once again being beat, although he was honestly amused with how happy the kid seemed to be at winning a simple video game, as he celebrated by zipping through the room, showing off speed in real life as well.

He smiled as the hedgehog plopped back down on the couch, looking satisfied with himself.

“How'd you get so good at it?” Tom asked, not missing how Sonic sat up a bit straighter with pride. “I could’ve sworn you were losing every race last week.”

Aaaaaand out went the confidence.

His eyes opened wide as he turned to Tom and cleared his throat a bit.

“ _ That _ , was all a part of my plan, to lure you into a false sense of hope when I was obviously still the better player,” he replied cockily, crossing his arms and seeming sure of himself.

“Yep, definitely. And it wasn’t at all because it was your first time playing it?”

“Ok, maybe that had something to do with it too,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Thought so.”

Tom started the next level, which ended up being the water park level… which also started a strange panic from Sonic.

“Stupid water,” he murmured under his breath as he fell behind on the lap.

“Having trouble there bud?”

“No! ‘Course not, I just don’t see why this needed to be a water level… Whoa! It’s a giant loop!” he stated happily as he began to drive through it.

Tom laughed. “If you’re this excited about a loop in a video game, you’d love rollercoasters,” he stated.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve seen those… they look slow,” he smirked when he saw Tom roll his eyes, but continued. “Those loops have nothing on the ones on Mobius though.”

“Mobius?... That’s your home planet, right?” Sonic nodded. “I didn’t know you had rollercoasters there.”

“No, it didn’t… or maybe it did? I didn’t see much of the planet,” he admitted with a shrug. “But we did have natural loop-de-loops- those were super fun to run through.”

Tom wasn’t entirely sure what to say- on one hand, that sounded pretty cool, although also very dangerous… and also highly unlikely, but it wasn’t like he would know what an alien planet’s terrain was supposed to be like, and one that apparently had blue hedgehog’s living on it sounded like a planet where loops being an average part of the world wasn’t exactly a far-fetched idea.

On the other hand, he always felt a bit unsure whenever Sonic mentioned his first planet. It was only on rare occasions, and while he and Maddie were both beyond curious, it seemed to be a delicate subject, and they didn’t want to force him into talking about it after the first few times they realized how quickly he had changed the subject.

But the casualty that Sonic had when he brought up his planet made it seem like it might be ok to talk about things a little more this time.

“Loops, huh? That seems fun.”

“They were! But I didn’t get to go out as often as I would’ve liked… speaking of which, I’m kind of concerned about Carl- now that he isn’t trying to catch me all the time, what do you think he’s doing with all his spare time?”

Tom tried not to feel disappointed when he changed the subject- but it did seem like a personal topic, and the last thing he wanted to do was push him into an uncomfortable situation, so instead, he went along with the new topic Sonic brought up, as they discussed what the older man might be doing to pass the time- but Tom didn’t miss his tone, which was now slightly faster than normal, obviously trying to cover up their previous conversation by moving their current one along faster than normal.

Though, in the end, the Crazy-Carl conversation was enough to distract Sonic, allowing Tom to win.

“Ugh, stupid level,” he murmured. “It was rigged!”

Tom smiled as he looked at the pouting hedgehog. “Alright, alright- what do you say to one last round before dinner?”

“Deal!” Sonic agreed, perking up (he won that one).

* * *

Sonic still found his mind drifting to Mobius, even after dinner.

After spending most of his time alive with only himself as a talking partner, Sonic wasn’t entirely sure he was the best at opening up- and this became abundantly clear every time he was asked about his past.

And the being  _ asked _ part honestly wasn’t the problem- heck, if an alien had shown up to his home, he’d be asking it more than a few dozen questions- so no, he didn’t mind… he  _ did _ mind answering though, and not for the reasons they might be thinking.

Sonic knew that they were curious about his native planet, and he did want to share his past with them- after all, they were pretty much a family, right? Not that any of them had said out loud…

But still, it wasn’t like he was  _ trying _ to keep it from them or to be that ‘mysterious person’ with a super cool backstory or whatever, but every time he started to talk about Mobius, his head seemed to buzz, and his voice seemed to stop working.

It was something hard to think about, let alone talk about. 

But maybe it was because deep down he didn’t want to admit it…

Back when he had lived in his cave, he tried to look at the map Longclaw had given him of safe planets, with the middle one, the first one crossed off, leaving him to know he could never go back.

He tried to constantly remind himself of the green hills, the loops, and the crumbling cliffs, but it still never seemed to be enough, and he always felt the clear memories fading more and more, until most of what he had left was nothing but the words describing it he had forced himself to memorize from his own memory.

He glanced at where Tom and Maddie were standing in the kitchen as they made popcorn, leaving him on the couch to pick the movie for tonight, but he found he couldn't focus on the screen or titles he was scrolling through.

There were so many fictional worlds that had been invented for the sake of enjoyment- what if the Mobius in his mind was nothing more than those now?

Tom and Maddie came to the couch with a bowl of popcorn and a few glasses of water, setting them on the coffee table, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“So did you pick a movie yet?” Maddie asked, sitting down beside him and rubbing his head gently.

“Um, yeah?” he desperately looked at the screen, hoping to find something before settling on 'Return of the Jedi,' seeing that he had probably picked Speed one too many times this week.

The couple both nodded in agreement (probably glad to watch something other than the previously mentioned movie) and started it, but his mind couldn’t focus on the images moving across the screen.

Instead, he found himself trying to calm his breathing by using the techniques Maddie had shown him, hardly paying attention to what was going on around him.

He was vaguely aware when the Ewoks came on screen, the treetop hideouts bringing his mind back to Longclaw’s hut, with it’s muted light that came through the leaves, and the way it had swayed during storms- although it hadn’t been scary- and the flashes of light, the creaks in the wood when he walked on certain planks-

“Sorry, can we stop it now?” he asked suddenly, not bothering to hide the waver in his voice, and instead focusing his energy on not becoming a living lightning bolt.

Tom and Maddie exchanged worried glances.

“Yeah, of course bud,” Tom said gently as Maddie reached for the remote and paused the movie. “What’s wrong?”

“I just- I’m sorry…”

“What for?”

“I… I’m sorry I can’t tell you more about my old planet- I just…” he trailed off with a sigh, pulling up his knees and putting his head in his knees.

“Sonic, you don't have to apologize,” Tom stated gently. “We understand that it's probably a hard thing to talk about- you don’t have to share anything you don’t feel like it.”

“Thanks, but I feel like I should- it’s just… I don’t talk about Mobius that much because I hardly remember it,” he admitted, squeezing his eyes shut as he thought about it. He could only make out faint images and feelings- some clearer than others, like certain spots he used to love running through, but most of his memories were in Longclaw’s hut-although honestly, even the pleasant memories with Longclaw were hard to think about sometimes since they often led back to the same memory of his last night on Mobius…

He reopened his eyes, hoping his mind wouldn’t take him there again.

“And a lot of the things I do remember, aren’t great…" he explained, ignoring the memory. "But that isn’t my home anymore- the earth is now, and I even have a family-” his eyes shot up suddenly as he realized what he just said. “I-I mean friends! We’re-”

“We  _ are _ a family, Sonic,” Maddie said softly, leaning over and wrapping her arms around him, to which he happily returned as Tom also joined their small hug pile. 

“Thank you,” he whispered in reply, leaning into their warm embrace, staying like that for a while, finally at home, finally with a family-  _ his _ family.

He closed his eyes, feeling satisfied, eventually drifting off to sleep, letting his tiredness overcome him, but feeling safe to do so.

* * *

Sonic woke up early the next morning, still feeling warm and safe, although at some point he'd been brought up to his room and tucked into his bed.

He heard noises coming from downstairs, revealing that it was safe for him to move around without fear that he would accidentally wake up his… parents.

He felt himself grin as he thought about it, hopping out of bed and quickly getting ready for the day before racing downstairs into the kitchen.

“G’ morning!” he greeted cheerfully as he saw Maddie standing in the kitchen drinking tea.

She smiled when she saw him. ‘Good morning Sonic- maybe keep it down a bit, Tom’s still sleeping,” she informed him.

_ “Pfft _ \- he’s still asleep? He’s weak,” he scoffed jokingly before perking up a bit. “Is it alright if I go for a run before breakfast then?”

“Of course- just be sure not to get too dirty, and be back before ten,” she reminded.

"‘Course!” he shouted, already pulling open the door to head out.

In less than a second, he had darted out the door, and was zooming through the forest, roaming the same paths he had when he was living out here, all alone- but now it seemed so much different. It was really weird to think about how much had changed in just a few months, but he was only grateful when he did consider it.

He had spent so much of his life in the same unchanging yet uncertain state, that for the first time in a long time, he finally felt secure.

He ran at a comfortable pace- fast enough that he didn’t feel like he was being dragged, but slow enough that he could still catch glimpses of scenery as it raced by- even if it was still pretty much nothing but a blur of browns and greens.

As he raced through, he caught a glimpse of orange, causing him to stop in his tracks, skidding to a halt sooner than his mind had realized.

From the looks of it, he had stopped a few kilometers away from where he had seen it, leaving him close but not in sight of whatever-it-was had been, which was most likely an early morning jogger... or it would've been, that is, had he been on the public pathways.

Either way, it had piqued his curiosity, and he found himself quickly backtracking, hoping for a fun story to tell Maddie since it was either a weird animal or a weird human, both of which made for good stories.

He debated which way to go for a few seconds, forgetting his previous path, until he finally made a correct few turns and found himself back where he had seen the bright blur, but unfortunately, whatever-it-was had already left in the few seconds he was gone- it wasn’t like it could’ve gone far though, right? (it also wasn’t like he had anything better to be doing either, honestly speaking).

Using a slightly slower pace than usual, he jogged through the woods, hoping to spot any sort of bright colour, when he zipped past the orange again, and backed up quietly, not wanting to startle it, if it was an animal.

He ducked behind a tree, and looked out from behind it, smiling to himself in anticipation as he finally got a good look at the blur in question.

But the moment his eyes landed on the being in question, his heart felt as if it had stopped beating, and dropped straight down to the ground. Black dots swirled in his vision as he desperately gripped his chest, trying to feel his heartbeat, his breathing, or  _ anything _ to prove he was alive, because instead of seeing a normal, average creature from earth, there appeared to be a living, breathing Mobian, a fox, staring down at a small device, thankfully not yet noticing his presence.

Sonic knew he should be doing something- fighting the Mobian, asking him questions…  _ something  _ useful…

But before he had time to think anything through, he found himself running off, as far as possible before he could be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter turned out really messy and I’m not really happy with the result, but I was really stumped and it was taking long, so I just wanted to get it done with and start on the more fun stuff tbh XD
> 
> I’m really sorry if Tom and Maddie ever seem mean in this, I’ve never seen healthy parents outside media, so I’m just trying to do it to the best of my ability, I never mean to write them bad!!
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Stay safe!! <3


	6. A Hesitant Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic decides to investigate the stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so long!!
> 
> I do already have the next chapter written out, so it won't be too long for the next update!!

Sonic had done what he knew best- he had run- and even though he was sick of running, his feet had taken off before he’d thought much about it, and well, now he was home.

Usually, he didn’t get out of breath while running- he knew when to take breaks, and he hardly ever went far enough for that to happen anyway.  But the moment he laid eyes on that fox, he felt like all the air had been punched out of him, leaving him gasping for breath as he stepped through the front door, falling to his knees as he tried to get himself under control.

But despite being in his home, his mind felt like it was elsewhere, his thoughts running faster than his feet ever could, with blurs of thoughts dropping in and out- of Mobius, of earth, and wondering what this new arrival could mean.

Was he here for his powers? Did this mean the Enchadia had found him? What should he do? What if Tom and Maddie got involved... what if they got hurt trying to protect him- what if he lost his family all over again?

“No Sonic, it’ll all be fine! It has to be fine, you can’t lose everything right after you finally got it! It’ll be fine!  Maybe that fox wasn’t even here for me- he could’ve just been on vacation, Mobians do that too, right? And  maybe  he  just  came to Green Hills ‘cuz it’s so nice here…”

“Ugh, no that’s stupid, get a grip- I  just gotta figure out how to deal with this- but what can I do? I don’t even know what this guy’s deal is! Stupid feet, taking off before I can say anything-”

“Um, Sonic?”  Sonic looked up, surprised to hear a voice that wasn’t his own, joining his inner-outer dialogue, only to realize that Maddie was home early.

“Oh! Um, you’re here!” he stated, laughing nervously as he absently played with his gloves. “How long have you, uh, been standing there?”

“Since you crashed through the doors,” she admitted,  thankfully leaving out the part where he was mumbling to himself, and instead kneeled down beside him, frowning in concern. “Is everything ok?”

“Yep! Yes, everything is _totally_ fine!” he fibbed, meeting her eyes before sighing. “You’re not buying any of this, are you?

She shook her head with a soft smile. “‘Fraid not- now do you want to tell me what’s wrong?"

“I… I don’t know?"

“What don’t you know?” She asked, a comforting smile on her face, but her eyebrows drawn in concern.

She cared, he knew she did, and he knew that Tom would also care- but what would happen if he told them?  There wasn’t any need to concern them with something he could take care of himself- after all, he had been taking care of himself for so long, and doing just fine. And it wasn’t like this guy would be as difficult as fighting Robotnik, right?

But that also meant he had to come up with at least a half-convincing lie in response to Maddie, and he had already taken too long to reply…

“I uh, I saw a weird animal that sorta freaked me out,” he admitted, figuring that it was sorta true.

Maddie still didn’t seem convinced though. “What kind of animal?”

“Uhm… it sorta looked like a fox? Or a small wolf? I didn’t get a good look.”

Maddie looked at him skeptically. “Is that  really  what’s bothering you?”

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I  just overreacted," he laughed, knowing that she still didn’t buy it, although thankfully she said nothing more after that, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He couldn’t just leave that Mobian out there to track him down, and he was sick of hiding. No, he would find the fox himself, and get them to leave, without worrying Tom or Maddie.

* * *

Miles sighed in frustration, unsure of what to do now.

He had been so confident that his device had been working properly, but now it seemed to be on the fritz, leading him in different directions every five seconds.  He had known it was a possibility that it would be harder to track him down once he got in closer proximity, but he had been hoping that it wouldn’t be the case.

Looking up from the miles electric, he glanced around at this new strange world. Had Sonic really been here? And more importantly, was he still here?

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew past, causing the readings to suddenly go haywire, drawing his attention back to the small machine, which was suddenly acting as if Sonic had passed by.

Quickly, he turned around, looking in all directions, but there was nothing, most likely a fluke

In retrospect, he hadn’t been sure what to expect, but he had always imagined it going well for some reason, that he would simply just have to find the planet, and somehow Sonic would be right there, waiting for him...  but in reality, he had already been searching the same area tirelessly for nearly a week without any results.

He’d found a nearby village, but he doubted Sonic would be among them, seeing that he had come to this planet to hide (knowing Sonic though, he was honestly starting to consider searching there too).

Then again, this planet was huge, and he had only been going off of some mere scans that he would be here, but with his speed, he could be long gone on the other side of the planet right now, and it wasn’t like Miles had enough rings to spare  just  to go for a quick look .

Sighing to himself, he started to wander in another direction, one area that he had yet to search through yet, as he deemed it too close to the town, but seeing that he was running out of options, he figured it wouldn’t at least hurt to try.

He'd been peacefully walking for a few seconds when another gust of wind blew by, causing the machine to once again go haywire.  Unlike the previous times though, when it went back to normal almost immediately, this time it stayed on the fritz, showing a pulse of energy nearby… 

Wait, then it meant-

Looking up desperately, he turned to where the machine had shown the energy, only to be met with another sudden breeze, only this time he could’ve sworn that there had been a dash of blue visible in the air, his breath catching in his throat when his eyes laid upon the familiar colour.

He shook his head.

No,  maybe that was just a gust of wind- he didn’t know much about this planet, so it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility.

Maybe he was just starting to get desperate to find his brother, the reason being that it was all he had wanted for so long.  But he hadn’t stopped to consider if Sonic would even want to see him after all this time- Or even remember him… it wasn’t like he remembered all that much himself, other than a few distinct feelings.

He interrupted his train of thought before it could go any further since there was no point in thinking about these things when he hadn’t even found him yet .

Right now he didn’t have time to question what might happen, he just had to keep moving forward- and seeing that the machine was still going haywire, he decided to just trust his gut and headed where the dash of blue had come from.

* * *

Sonic was pacing in his room, considering what to do next.

His first thought was to immediately go back out there and confront the Mobian, seeing as it was the fastest way to deal with the situation, but he was quick enough to realize that Maddie wouldn’t let him out so soon after he came home in a panic.

He inwardly cursed himself for not being able to act more naturally under a stressful situation but realized that it was probably better than acting rashly under panic.  Distantly he could hear the front door open, as Tom came home from work, meaning that he'd been stressing about it in his room for a  relatively long time now, but he couldn’t make himself go down to say hi- luckily, he didn’t have to, since there was soon a knock on the attic latch, and Tom came inside.

“Hey bud,” he greeted, without having waited for a reply. “Maddie said you’ve been pacing around like crazy for almost an hour now, what’s up?”

“What? I’m not pacing, I’m not even moving, I’ve been so still the past hour you would’ve thought I was a statue or at least-”

“Sonic, you’re pacing right now,” Tom stated flatly, his expression humoured, but his eyes remained concerned as Sonic glared down at his feet as if they had betrayed him.

“I’m fine,  really,” he promised. “  Just, sorta tired,” he added, faking a yawn in hopes that it would sell the act a bit more.  Unfortunately, much like Maddie, Tom didn’t buy the act, as he kneeled down and laid his hands on the hedgehog’s shoulders to get him to stand still for a moment.

“Sonic, we’re not going to force you to tell us anything, but if there’s something wrong,  we might be able to help you if you tell us,” he explained.

“It’s fine, I  just  …” _Tell him_ , Sonic told himself inwardly. _Tom and Maddie can help with this._ Sonic looked up again, meeting Tom’s eyes.  There was a reason why he and Maddie had been his favourite people, even before they had taken him in- they both seemed to genuinely care for the people around them.

But Sonic cared about them too.  He promised himself he would use his power to protect the people he cared for, and if that meant dealing with this Mobian on his own, he would. Besides, he took on a fleet of insane robots built by an even more insane man, so what was a single person compared to that? (Y’know, assuming this guy didn’t also have an army of robots)

“ I think  I need some fresh air,” he relented after some debate. “Is that ok?”

Tom seemed hesitant but agreed. “After all the pacing around,  I think it’d be a good idea.  Just  make sure you ask Maddie first, ok bud?”

“‘Course I will, thanks Donut Lord!”  he beamed, heading downstairs in hopes that Tom wouldn't pick up on his anxiety,  quickly stepping out the back door.

“Hey sweetie,” Maddie greeted from where she was tending to their small garden, looking up from the patch of Marigolds to give him a warm smile. “I see you’re feeling better now, huh?”

“Yep!  I  just needed a little rest,” he fibbed with a wide grin, feeling slightly guilty, but quickly brushing away that feeling when he reminded himself that soon it would be over with. “But I’m fine now, so is it ok if I go out for a quick run?”

Maddie studied him for a moment as if he was hiding something (or it was probably, definitely Sonic’s own nerves causing him to think this) before nodding.

“Of course,  I think  it’s a good idea to get some air- do you want me to come with you?”

“Nah, I’m good, I actually want to go fast this time,” he joked, laughing when Maddie rolled her eyes at his antics.

“ Just be sure to be back before dinner,” she reminded him.

He quickly gave her a thumbs-up before darting off into the woods, much slower than usual so he could easily hide when he came across the Mobian.

As he headed off in the direction he’d first seen the fox, his mind began to wander, filling his head with scattered feelings, broken thoughts, and blurry memories of his old planet, leaving him with a confusing collection of colours in his head, though none of them seemed to form a full thought.

“It’s not too late, I can always go get Tom and Maddie,” he whispered to himself, but found little comfort in hearing his own voice, as it only reminded him that he was currently alone.

Moreover, this was something he wanted to do himself.  If it was another human causing trouble, then he would’ve gone to Tom and Maddie first with no hesitation, but maybe this was different, it felt different from the second he saw the fox, and maybe in his heart, he knew this was something he _needed_ to do alone. Was it because this was the first time he had come across someone from Mobius since coming to Earth? Was it because he maybe wanted to prove that he truly didn’t have to hide anymore?

Well, it wasn’t like Sonic knew the answers to these questions himself, but he was going to deal with this problem either wa-

Suddenly catching sight of a familiar orange, his feet halted to a stop before he could think, digging up a small amount of dirt on his shoes as he recognized the back of the fox.

Quickly, he darted behind the nearest tree, realizing that despite his avid determination, he hadn’t exactly come up with a plan of confrontation, although that itself wasn’t easy to do either, especially when his mind was racing a mile a minute, making up for his lack of moment with unreadable thoughts, none of which he could fully grasp.  To add on to it, he once again found himself breathless as he waited for any sounds of movement from the Mobian’s direction.

After what seemed like an eternity- despite only being a few seconds- Sonic braced himself and looked out from behind the tree.  His fists clenched as he realized the Mobian had turned to face where he was standing, though thankfully they had still yet to look up from a strange clunky iPad sort of device.

He had only wanted to get a quick look at the fox, but something was holding him there to keep looking. It had been so long since he had seen another of his kind, that despite them never having met, he seemed so familiar.  There was a strange sort of tug in his chest, a feeling that he recognized on those cold nights when he just arrived on Earth and had longed for Longclaw to gently wrap her wings around him, keeping them warm from the small drafts of air that would find their way through in the winter months.

Was it homesickness?

Distantly he heard the fox mumble something to himself, causing Sonic to forget himself slightly as his lips upturned in a small smile, happy to know that at least he wasn’t the only Mobian to talk to himself.

Just then, the fox looked up, snapping Sonic back to attention, his heart pounding as he ducked back behind the tree, hoping he had been quick enough.

Apparently , he hadn’t.

“Um… hello?” the Mobian called out hesitantly.

Sonic tried to focus on the situation at hand, but he couldn’t. But running off again wasn’t an option either.  Apparently  , though, the fox wasn’t content to stay still, and he heard the sound of crunching leaves as he walked towards him,  slowly approaching, which in all honesty was almost worse since it felt more like he was being hunted.

“Don’t come any closer!” he warned from behind his tree. _Whelp_ , so much for his plan of looking cool and confident when telling him off.  Oh well, at least he wasn’t running away again, that’s all that mattered- that, and thankfully that the fox had respect for when someone told him to stop, since the footsteps halted when he told them to.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” he demanded, hoping to sound strong despite how much his voice wanted to waver.

“Um… I’m looking for someone,” the fox clumsily elaborated.

“Oh yeah? Is it me?” he asked, done with the games. This seemed to catch the kit off guard for a moment,  probably not expecting that sort of bluntness.

“I dunno, are you fast?”

Sonic laughed a little in his head.  The fox asked it as if he already knew the answer to it, almost like he was baiting him to come out- which quite honestly almost worked since it seemed more like a friendly jest than an evil ploy. Still though…

“ Just  answer the question.”

He heard a small sigh like somehow he’d disappointed the kit, before the fox spoke up in a small voice. “I... Sonic, I’ve been looking for yo-”

“So you do know who I am,” he interrupted flatly. “But I don’t know who you are.”

“You d-don't- right... of course you don’t. I’m, T- Miles. Miles Prower, but I’m here because-”

“Well then, ‘Miles Prower,’ it was nice to meet you, but I don’t plan on ever going back to Mobius, or wherever else you want me to go,” he cut off, deciding that he didn’t feel like hearing whatever horrible reason why someone needed his power.  “So you can  just  tell the people who sent you to kindly ‘shove off,’ and that I won’t hesitate to fight them if they chose to send more people my way, alright?"

“I’m not here to take you-”

“Yeah yeah kid, you can go now, bye,” he stated decidedly, running off opposite to his home, before winding back around to make sure he wasn’t followed. He was followed home before, and while this kid hadn’t exactly posed any threat, he still wasn’t about to- wait, kid?

His thoughts paused as he attempted to process it- that fox, Miles- had definitely been a kid. Why would they send a kid to go get him?  Sonic was aware that Tom called him ‘kid’ too, and while he knew he himself was a kid, Miles had been an actual kid _kid_ , like he was even small and everything.

Huh.

Whatever he should be gone by now, and if not, then he’d go back tomorrow and make sure that the f- _Miles_ (jeez, why did it seem so hard to call him that ?) had actually left.

At least now he felt a lot less worried, though the same tug in his chest was still there, making him wish he had spent more time with him, even just to know what Mobius was like now.

Shrugging it off, he ran up the steps to the front door, happy to be back home with his family, even though something still felt off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: finds any way to call him something other than Miles cuz it makes me feel awkward 
> 
> Also me: *somehow forGETS TO MAKE AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE SONIC CAN NOTICE HIS TAILS YOU FUCKING DUMBASS*
> 
> Thank you so so much for all your support so far!!
> 
> Ok, but I was playing Sonic Colours the other day, and I’m desperately in need for them to put the scene where Sonic is talking to a dead robot he just defeated, and Tails is just like ‘wtf bro’ in the next Sonic movie, cuz honestly that scene is just the best


	7. A Second Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late!! I had it written out and finished, but as I was re-reading it, I ended up writing a new part, then changing a bunch of other stuff, but then it ended up being a little over 3500 words (when they’re usually 2000 words) but I couldn’t bring myself to cut any of it again, so fuck it, this is a long chapter- I hope you enjoy!!

Miles didn’t know what to do.

Yes, he’d known that it was stupid to think Sonic would remember him after so long, but there was no helping that it had gone very different to what he’d been imagining in his head ever since he realized the possibility of seeing him again- and even before that when it was just a wish.

He'd thought when he got to earth, Sonic would be there, and he’d be happy… or maybe even relieved to see him, relieved that they could finally be reunited. But that was idiotic.

Swallowing harshly, he fought the burning in his eyes as he looked down at his device. At the very least, his invention hadn’t been a failure, although the success felt hollow without the reward that was supposed to come with it. 

Well, he  _ had _ reunited with Sonic, so technically speaking, he did accomplish his goal, but he was told to leave the planet not even five minutes into the conversation, so it practically was a failure.

At least it seemed like Sonic was still as quick as ever, both in physical speed and in conversational speed. It was nice to know he was still the same at heart.

But what was he supposed to do now? He didn’t have anywhere to go, or anywhere to stay. He could always go back to Mobius, but that meant going into hiding again, and well, if Sonic was safe enough to run around freely here, then this place would be safe enough to stay in until he came up with a better plan… besides, despite being told to leave, He couldn’t bring himself to leave his brother again, even if he had forgotten everything-

Miles forced his eyes shut and took a studying breath before taking a few steps towards the nearest tree, sitting down at the base of the trunk, knowing there wasn’t much of a point in searching now that he had found who he was looking for.

Even though he almost wished that he hadn’t.

* * *

It more-or-less another average night for Sonic, other than his first non-alien encounter in literal years.

Even though now he was relatively calmer, he couldn’t shake the conversation from his head, inwardly kicking himself for interrupting Miles so much every time he spoke. 

At the time it seemed like a good idea, so at least he wouldn’t have to hear about how some evil organization wanted him, though now it just seemed like a stupid move, since any new information could’ve helped him prepare if more Mobians did end up coming. But for now, at least, he could rest easy knowing that he’d been able to handle the situation on his own without causing any unneeded stress to Tom and Maddie- even though they still seemed to pick up on his behaviour, despite him assuming that he had been doing a good job at hiding it.

“Is everything ok kid?” Tom asked, causing Sonic to realize he’d been silently staring out of the back door window for a while now.

“Yeah, just… do you think it’s cold outside?” 

“Hm. Probably- it has been getting cooler out there recently,” Tom admitted, not bothering to question his thought process.

“Oh, ok,” was his simple response, tapping his fingers repeatedly against the couch cushions, the answer doing nothing to calm his worry. “Do you think someone would be able to sleep out there? Like without shelter or anything- it’d be really cold, right?”

“Yeaaaaah?” Tom responded, still unsure of what he was getting at. “Why? Do you know someone who’s out there tonight?”

“No? Unless I do…”

“Sonic? Are you sure everything’s ok?” Tom asked again, his eyebrows drawn in worry.

“Yep, I’m good,” he replied, despite not really knowing if he was fine. “Just... probably tired.”

“It doesn’t seem like you got enough sleep last night,” Tom stated. “Was there a thunderstorm or something?”

“N-no, just couldn’t sleep- anyway, goodnight!” he replied, darting upstairs before any more questions could be asked, knowing it probably made everything seem more suspicious, but he'd dealt with it already, right? So things would be back to normal in no time, and his family would just write this off as a bad day.

Pausing to glance out of one of the windows on the way to the bathroom, his mind once again wandered to the Mobian, doubting he had actually left (and maybe deep down hoping that he hadn’t).

Despite sleeping perfectly well the night before, Sonic now at least found his lie was half-true as he was definitely tired, and looking forward to some sleep. 

After getting ready for bed in record time and heading up to his room, he flopped down on his bed contentedly, glad that he didn’t have to spend it outside...

He stared up at his ceiling, wondering if the fox-  _ Miles- _ had gone home yet, and where exactly on Mobius he was from. There hadn’t been any foxes he could recall meeting when he was living with Longclaw, so maybe he was from some other place on the planet?

Eh, it didn’t matter anymore though, did it? He considered lazily as he closed his eyes, expecting to doze off.

“But the way he was talking to me seemed really weird, didn’t it?” He questioned himself.

“No, he’s just a kid, he probably just acts like that all the time, right? It’s stupid, don’t think about it.

“But he knew me by my name-

“-They probably  _ gave  _ him my name, it’s not like he’s a psychic or something, but I guess we can’t exactly write it off since I can run at sonic speeds, so a psychic wouldn’t be  _ that _ weird-

“UGH- shut up,” he told himself in frustration. “We can go see if he’s still there tomorrow,” he stated decidedly, turning over and burying his head in his pillow. “But right now, we need to sleep, or we won’t be going anywhere.”

“But if he’s still there tomorrow, then that would mean we left him out there all night,  _ alone _ .

“I mean, I spent plenty of time out there alone, right? He’ll be fine for just one night- besides, he probably went back to Mobius by now.”

Though despite this valid reasoning, he couldn’t shake the guilt that he might’ve left Miles out in the woods until finally, he couldn’t bear it anymore. He may not trust the kit, but he wasn’t about to leave him to freeze either.

To be fair, he would’ve asked Tom and Maddie if he could go for a quick run before bed, but then he’d have to explain  _ why _ , and it’d turn into this whole thing- besides, he was pretty sure he could sneak out, after all, everyone in the movies seemed to make it work- how hard could it be?

It was hard. A Lot harder than he had given any of those characters credit for.

He swore that the wood floors were out to get him- as all the floorboards seemed to suddenly gain the ability to squeak, and that wasn’t even mentioning the hassle that had been getting the attic door open without a clang.

Oh yeah- and he had to do this all while carrying a heavy blanket from his room.

But considering he did all this,  _ and _ no one had woken up (or at least to his knowledge, but he was pretty confident), he was admittedly pretty impressed with himself.

He stepped out the front door, and quietly closed it before taking off into the woods -which again was very hard to do while carrying a heavy blanket that was bigger than him- but he was still able to head through the woods at a fast if only slightly slowed down pace.

* * *

To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure where he was headed and was mostly just speeding through the forest, watching for a glimpse of orange in the darkness, but he figured he’d check the place where they had first crossed paths- Miles was most likely gone by now, but it seemed like a good place to start- but to his surprise (and relief, that probably should’ve been anger)- he was still there, only now he was curled up by the base of a nearby tree.

Sonic slowed to a stop, a little ways away, watching for any signs of movement, but the fox was incredibly still. He felt his heart drop as he saw the tiny figure motionless but quickly reminded himself that he had spent many a night out here before he had found the cave, and had been alright.

He looked closely at the small form, watching closing, finally allowing himself to calm down as he saw that the kit was still breathing- he was just sleeping… huh, that means he didn’t have to risk sneaking out just to make sure this kid was alright, did he?

But seeing as he had come this far, it’d be a shame not to go through with it. He took a deep breath, and slowly walked up, careful not to make a noise in case he might disturb the quietly sleeping fox, carefully watching the ground for any surprise twigs that he might step on, until his feet stopped right beside the orange ball of fur that was sleeping quietly, shivering slightly in the fresh air.

An odd warmth came over him as he finally saw the other Mobian close-up, lowering himself slowly to the ground, and quietly sitting beside him. He felt a sudden pang of sadness as he noticed the kit was trembling, feeling crushed at the sight of this kid looking like he did when he first arrived on earth… cold, scared, alone...

_ Get it together Sonic,  _ he reminded himself, thankfully this time in his head.  _ He was sent here to find you, to hurt you… _

Still, he couldn’t help but doubt his inner voices. This fox didn’t seem dangerous, he seemed… familiar.

Why had they sent this kid to get him instead of someone who could actually handle him? Did they think they could trick him into going if they used someone who seemed innocent?

But it didn’t matter right now- whatever his intentions happened to be in the future, he wasn’t about to let this guy freeze out there all night, so he gently placed the blanket over the fox, smiling with relief as the trembling seemed to stop slightly, before getting back up and racing home, desperate to make sure Tom and Maddie hadn’t noticed his late-night adventure, finally content to curl up into bed again, this time easily drifting off without guilt edging away at his mind.

* * *

Daylight streamed through his windows the next day, much too bright for it to be anything but late in the morning- and a glance at his clock showed that he had likely missed saying goodbye to both Maddie and Tom, so he got up with a sigh, momentarily forgetting the events of the previous day in his tiredness.

He got ready and headed downstairs, smiling at the note Maddie had left for him on the table, along with the homework assignments for the day that would help him catch up with the other kids in time for fall. Walking over to the refrigerator, he was halfway through getting the milk when he remembered that Miles might still very well be on earth, despite being told to leave.

Shoving the milk back into the fridge, he opted to go for a run first, just to check, and give himself some peace of mind before completely moving on with his life.

_ Completely _ moving on.

Making his way through the woods once again, he headed to the same place as last night, stopping short when he saw everything the same as how he left it before, with the kit sleeping peacefully under the thick blanket, oblivious to the world around him.

Sonic grinned as he jogged up, excited to see the fox was still around before realizing his excitement, replacing it with confusion instead.

Yesterday he'd already  _ told _ the kid to leave, so why was he still here? What, was he waiting for reinforcements or something? A couple of feet away he caught sight of the device the kit had been using earlier- presumably to track him- laying on the ground amid a carpet of leaves.

Curiously, he picked it up, examining it. It seemed pretty high-tech from what he remembered, but then again, all he had seen of Mobius was a remote island, and even then, Longclaw probably avoided technology to avoid being tracked… but this seemed so weirdly specific. Did they sell Sonic-trackers on Mobius or something?

It still bothered him that Miles looked so young. What has happened to make him the one to come here anyway? Was his family being held as hostages?

But he'd come to get some intel and make him leave, no matter the reason he was here. And even if that meant waking him up- which made him feel incredibly bad since he knew first hand how hard it was to get to sleep outside- he would do it.

Besides, it would be even worse to just sit there and watch him sleep, so he gave the kid a light nudge with his foot, hoping that would do the trick, which thankfully it did, as Sonic took a step back, waiting for the kid to groggily sit up and take in his surroundings before clearing his throat to draw attention to himself.

Miles stared at him, first dazed from being woken up, then stunned for a moment as he realized who it was, until strangely enough, genuine happiness showed on his face.

“Sonic! You came back? I thought you didn’t wan-”

“Why are you still here?” he interrupted coldly- albeit by accident- after being a little thrown off by the warmth shown towards him.

However, the guilt he felt when he saw the broken look in Miles’ eyes when he responded was worse than the guilt after he’d accidentally broken a few of the Wachowski’s plates last week while helping out with chores- he hadn’t even realized those things could break since usually the plastic ones seemed fine when they dropped…

But this completely trumped last week’s incident by far, he realized as Miles stood up quickly, taking a step back as if he was afraid.

That was the point though, right? Sonic was supposed to come across as intimidating, that way, he might scare off anyone looking for his powers…

Still, he was starting to wish it'd been anyone  _ besides _ this kid. Sighing to himself, he resisted the urge to ruffle the kit’s fur and promise him everything was fine, and instead focused on just keeping up the intimidating exterior for a few more minutes before he could escape and let the guilt strangle him.

“I… I’m sorry,” Miles finally mumbled. “I just don’t have anywhere else to go…”

“They won’t let you back unless you bring me?” he asked, even more guilt eating him up as he began to think about it.

The poor guy, he was so small, and if he wasn’t even allowed back until-

“Why do you keep saying that I’m working for someone?” Miles huffed, crossing his arms as his tail flicked behind him, moving strangely enough that it almost tricked Sonic into thinking he had two for a moment.

“You obviously are, I mean, you even have a device to track me-” he stated, gesturing to the machine in his hand- “how else would you get it?”

“Give it back,” Miles ordered protectively, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the device in his hands.

“Dude, it literally tracks me- I think that’s a breach in privacy. So why don’t you just go back to Mobius, and tell them you couldn’t find me, ok?”

“But-”

“If you need a ring to get back, I’ll even give you one of mine-”

“Sonic-”

“I’m keeping your device though, sorry, I just prefer to stay off-grid-”

“ _ Sonic, _ ” Miles stated on the verge of shouting, his face annoyed by his rambling. “No one told me to come here, I came by myself,” he stated, his voice faltering a little at the end. “I’m the only one who knows you’re here, I promise- I made the tracker, so it’s the only one- well, it’s not a tracker, but that  _ is _ one of its functions… I just wanted to find you,” he added quietly, shifting from foot to foot as he avoided eye-contact.

“Ok, fine, why do  _ you _ want me then? You know there’s no way you’ll ever convince me to go back to Mobius, so you might as well leave n-”

“I’m not trying to force you to leave either- I  _ know _ you need to stay hidden because  _ I _ need to stay hidden too,” Miles explained, frustration clear in his face.

“What?”

The fox sighed, looking away again. “Look, I just came because I promised someone I’d find you and make sure you were fine, but since you don’t remember me, you probably don’t even remember her,” he stated miserably, turning away.

“Her?” he asked, panic rising in his chest as he tried to swallow the words. “Remember you? What, so we’ve met before? And who’s ‘her’? You aren’t... are you talking about-”

“Longclaw,” Miles stated, his voice wavering as his shoulders tensed up. “How could you forget Longclaw? She almost  _ died _ trying to save you, and you forgot her?”

Sonic stood stunned at this revelation- the kid  _ knew _ Longclaw? And ‘almost died’?  _ Almost?  _ His mind raced at what this meant.

“And what about me?” Miles continued before Sonic had the chance to say a word in reply to the sudden shock that was just laid on him. “I know it was a really long time ago, and I know I’m not that memorable... but how could you forget me? I thought you were my brother...” he stated, not even trying to hide the shakiness in his voice, making it clear he was most likely crying.

Sonic, on the other hand, wasn’t sure he had ever experienced true and utter speechlessness until now. He wasn’t even sure what to say in a situation like this, or what he  _ wanted  _ to say. He wanted to ask about Longclaw, he wanted to remember Mobius more clearly, he wanted to know what Miles meant when he said they were  _ brothers _ ... But more importantly, he wanted to stop him from crying.

He never knew what it felt like to make someone cry before, nor did he have experience helping someone who was crying since Tom and Maddie had yet to break down in front of him.

But the way Miles was angrily wiping away his tears with his back turned to him reminded Sonic so much of how he was when he first got to Earth, when he was left all on his own, angry at himself for not being quick enough, angry at himself for being sad, but overall lonely, more lonely than he had ever felt before. 

That’s what Miles looked like right now, more than anything, was lonely. It was a feeling that Sonic could pick up on more than anything else, one that he knew probably too well.

Hesitantly he took a step closer to him and attempted to put a hand on the kit’s shoulder, before getting shoved off. “Really?” the fox asked, turning to glare at him. “You’re going to pretend to care now?”

“No- I- I’m sorry, I do-”

Miles breathed out, getting control of his breath. “It’s fine, I’ll just leave you alone, that’s what you wanted right?” he stated, walking off, leaving Sonic to stare after him.

“Tails, wait-” Sonic called, finally snapping back to what he assumed was reality, quickly grabbing his hand to stop him from leaving. “You… you said Longclaw didn’t… she’s alive?”

“I said she  _ almost _ died back when she… when you left,” he corrected flatly, his hand tensing in Sonic’s grip. “I didn’t say she was still alive.”

“Then… then when did she-”

“Eight months ago.”

“Eight months…” he repeated, dropping Miles’ hand unsure how to process these words.

For a few seconds, he wasn’t sure how he felt, but the only answer seemed to be ‘numb.’ He’d always assumed she had died, but why was it so much harder to know it as a fact? 

“Why didn’t she come back for me?” he heard himself ask, his body feeling more like an empty husk that he didn’t have control over as a now-familiar static came over him. “If she was alive for so long, why didn’t she come back?”

Miles turned back to meet Sonic's eyes, only for his own to widen in fear, stumbling to take a step back, tripping to the ground instead, though Sonic hardly noticed, his mind too filled with his own confusing thoughts and feelings, as he subconsciously realized his powers start to take over.

He wasn’t sure if it was because a small part of him still had control over his actions when he started to run home, or if it was a completely involuntary act, but either way, he was glad to find himself back in his room, with most of the journey back being erased from his memory, leaving him alone to curl up into a ball after tossing some blankets over himself, blocking out the light to stop some of the sensory input. His mind was already in a dizzying array, he didn’t need to add anything to it.

Time seemed to stop itself, feeling like hours until he eventually felt the energy die down a little, freeing him from keeping focused on not becoming overemotional, allowing his tiredness from the earlier emotional rollercoaster to take over, drifting off into a semi-conscious haze, less aware of his surroundings, but still awake, still feeling his quills on edge as he felt himself pulse with energy every few seconds.

He should’ve stuck to doing schoolwork.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tails: *is very emotional abt Sonic not remembering, while casually revealing a bunch of repressed memories for Sonic*
> 
> Sonic: what the fuck what thefuckwhATTHEFUCK W H A T T H E F U C K
> 
> Anywayssss- I hope you enjoyed!! seriously, thank you so much for the support and comments, it means so much (and I'm so fucking bad at replying cuz I have serious social anxiety, sorry, but thank you so much!! <33)
> 
> I'll update soon!!
> 
> (also yes Sonic does purposely call him Tails accidentally, I didn’t just forget to call him Miles ok bye)


	8. A Short Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I realize the chapter title makes it seem like I'm going on hiatus, but no, that is just the chapter title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while to come!! I was writing out the next chapter when it really felt like Sonic needed a small break to be with his parents, so then I wrote this! 
> 
> it's also a little short, but I was reading the latest idw issue, and then after was like: sonic needs a break
> 
> so he got a break in this chapter

Eventually **** Sonic was able to get up, still somewhat numb to his surroundings, his mind still in a haze, but able to move without wanting to curl up into a ball and hide.

He managed to make his way downstairs, pushing out the blurry thoughts when they came his way, grabbing the schoolwork that Maddie had left for him and bringing it to his room to save for a later time, knowing that there was no way on earth that he was going to be able to get any of it done today, even though he now regretted not making homework his main focus for the day instead of rushing out to go talk to Miles.

Groaning, he tried to ignore the pain when the conversation resurfaced in his mind.

The thing that was bothering him wasn’t even Longclaw anymore… well, of course he was still upset, seeing that he was left alone for ten long years without so much as a word that she was still alive, but deep down he knew that she always had tried her best to look out for him, and while he didn’t understand or agree with staying in hiding his whole life, he found he couldn’t stay mad at her either.

No, the thing that he was regretting was his own reaction. 

Maybe he had been caught up in the moment, and maybe it was hard to think clearly when you're told of things you had forgotten, and things you should know, but even that he didn’t really care about- heck, he didn’t care even if it had all been lies. The thing he regretted was leaving Miles alone, for freaking out himself when the kit was already struggling to hold it together, and then just running off like he always did- like always  _ does _ .

Why was that such a hard habit to break?

To be fair, this time it was to protect someone from himself, but when he considered what the fox must be feeling, he could only curse himself for not being in control of his own emotions.

He quickly shoved the homework into his desk drawer, planning on returning to his curled ball state when a small-ish box caught his eye in the corner of his room, one that had been brought in from the cave by Tom and Maddie, one that he hadn’t opened in a relatively long time.

Despite his desire to crawl back into bed and curl up in a ball, he hesitated, a part of him tugging to go through his old memories, hopefully bringing him back from the track of 'what-ifs' and instead to the reality of what actually happened.

The box was pretty heavy considering its size, but it was mostly filled with paper which weighed it down immensely after some time. It'd been a while since he looked through it since it was basically just a useless collection of things he had deemed ‘special,’ even though they were mostly unimportant.

Opening up the box carefully, he was immediately hit with nostalgia as he began to sort through the various things that he'd deemed precious enough to save. There were plenty of newspaper scraps from when he was learning how to read in English, his first comic book, a pressed sunflower, and a frighteningly large amount of drawings of his after he had found a stack of blank paper. Fondly picking up the pages, he flipped through them, recognizing the badly drawn pictures of Mobius from when he could still remember the sights easily.

It had been ages since he looked at any of those old drawings, seeing as they seemed to bring up bad memories for him... and they still did, to some extent. He ignored the pain in his chest as he landed on one of Longclaw, quickly moving on instead to a badly drawn self-portrait that rivaled Observant Carl’s drawing of him.

Allowing himself to laugh slightly, he flipped to the next paper piece, knowing that if he found what he was looking for, everything would at least be slightly clearer.

When he was younger, he had drawn everything he was scared of forgetting, mostly of Mobius (though there were a few random humans that he had drawn as well), which is why he didn’t usually enjoy going through these.

But today was different. He knew that if Miles was telling the truth, if they did know each other, then he would be somewhere in these drawings. But with every new page he didn’t appear on, Sonic’s heart dropped a bit. Maybe it shouldn’t have mattered to him, but he was starting to hope that the kit had been telling the truth.

Realistically, he knew he had started to flip through them too fast, but he couldn’t help the desperation that started to leak through in his actions, until suddenly he caught sight of a glimpse of orange in one of the pages, leaving him to desperately backtrack in an attempt to find the page.

Just when he was starting to question if it had been a trick from his eyes, the page came into view again, and his hands fumbled to a stop. He let out a sigh, not realizing he had been holding his breath as he looked down at the drawing.

It was one he could hardly remember drawing, one that he had made back when he first arrived- his imaginary friend- which at the point he had drawn this, he really must’ve believed it to be true since the orange scribble on the page was unrealistically drawn with two tails, but besides, that…

Well, it was still a badly drawn picture, but Sonic knew there had to be more meaning behind it since he had only ever drawn people he saw, and now here was a kid, not only claiming to know him but also having a similar appearance to something he drew a long time ago?

Ok, so maybe it  _ was _ a coincidence, but was it so wrong for him to hope that it wasn’t?

Just then, he heard the front door open, startling him from his thoughts, causing him to quickly stuff the drawing back into the box with the others, before shoving it back into the corner where it had previously gone, just as he heard a knock come from below.

“Yeah?” he answered quickly, attempting to sound upbeat which instead caused his voice to crack. Clearing his throat, he forced a grin on his face as the hatch opened and Maddie came in, offering him a soft smile as she leaned over the top of the hatch opening.

“Hey sweetie,” she said warmly, her presence feeling very much like the calm heat from the sun on a cold day, making his smile a little less forced and more relaxed as he once again realized how lucky he was to have her.  _ Miles doesn’t have anyone, _ his mind unhelpfully reminded him as he realized Maddie had been speaking to him while he zoned out, and was now looking at him with expectancy, waiting for him to answer a question.

“Uhmmm, sorry, I- can you repeat that please?” he asked, his gaze falling to the floor as he heard Maddie let out a light laugh, thankfully not offended that he’d dozed off temporarily.

“How was your day?” She asked, apparently the repeat of her earlier question.

“Oh yeah! It was-”  _ confusing, lonely, terrifying-  _ “Good.”

“You hesitated,” she stated pointedly after studying his face for a few moments. 

“No… I didn’t.”

Seeming to settle something in her mind, Maddie came into the room fully, and sat down across from where he was standing, her mouth drawn into a firm line, through her eyes soft with concern as she patted the ground next to her, inviting him to join her, which he easily did. Gently she wrapped her arm around him in a half-hug, drawing him into a half-hug, gentle yet firm as they sat in silent comfort.

“You know you can tell us anything, right?” she asked. “Even the hard stuff- we might not understand anything… alien, but we want to try.”

Leaning into her side, Sonic nodded, unable to say anything in case the burning behind his eyes led to tears. Neither of them said anything for a while, both just content to stay together in the quiet attic after the afternoon light drifted in, giving the room a golden tint as she gently began to pet him, her fingers steadily going through his quills.

“What would you do if you hurt someone accidentally?” he blurted out, surprised to hear his own voice since he’d barely thought of the question, much less of saying it out loud. 

Though if she was surprised, she didn’t show it but instead hummed in thought for a moment. “Apologizing is always the best way to start.”

“But then what? What do I do if he- they don’t accept it? Or what if they do? Then what?”

“Well, that depends on the person… but the first step is to apologize, then go from there. It’s really up to the other person after that.”

_ Apologize, _ yeah, that sounded easy enough, so why did the thought of it make him so nervous? Because of the second part, the part where it might not work.

“What happened? Did you get in a fight with someone?” she asked, concern allowing itself to wain through her voice.

“M-maybe,” he admitted reluctantly. “Though I think I did most of the fighting…”

“I think the fact that you want to make things better with them is good,” she assured him after some thought. “I’m proud of you.”

He had spent so long trying to keep his tears at bay but lost the ability to do so when he heard those three words. “I haven’t done anything yet,” he reminded her with a breathy chuckle.

“Sure, but I know you’ll do the right thing- besides- can’t a mom be proud?”

Leaning a little more into her side, Sonic felt at peace for the first time since… well, yesterday, but it had seriously felt like almost a week had passed with all the stress that he’d balled up. And now time seemed to slow down again, not in a stressful way, but in the way where he never wanted the moment to end, and just to stay in the safe and warm bubble they were in together.

Sighing, Sonic finally willed himself back to the matter at hand. “So… do you think I should go now to apologize?”

She glanced down in surprise at his statement but realized that he preferred to do things quickly- which apparently included apologies. “If you feel like that’s the right thing to do,” she nodded, causing the blue blur to pull away and stand up decidedly.

“I’ll go now,” he stated, though a small waver still appeared at the end of his voice.

“Do you want me to come with you? I can drive you wherever he lives,” she offered, but he just shook his head. 

“I think I need to do this alone.”

“Alright then- stay safe.”

“I will!” he promised, heading to the hatch before stopping momentarily.”And Maddie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you… for everything.”

With that, he hopped through the hatch and down the stairs without glazing back, though he still had felt the warm smile on her face before he disappeared.

It was time to make things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your opinions on my writing?? Am I not describing things enough? Are my word choices too jumbled? Is it too fast or too slow? Lemme know!! I want to get better at writing, so any constructive criticism is welcome!! now is the time to voice how I annoy you 
> 
> (just… please know I already try my best for grammar errors, but I also have ADHD and find beta-reading like, the worst thing ever, so it’s probably not going to get any better tbh)


	9. Apologies Never Seem to be Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the support!!
> 
> Special thanks to 4thClover who's comment gave me the motivation to finally finish this chapter!!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!!

Miles sat for a moment, still staring at where the blue blur had been standing just a few seconds ago but was gone, again.

“Not like I’m not used to that,” He mumbled to himself as he spotted the Miles Electric a few feet away, hastily dropped by the hedgehog in his escape. 

Forcing himself to get up, he walked over and grabbed the device, not caring to see if it still worked. And so what if it did? It wasn’t useful for much anymore. He found who he was looking for, and did what he promised Longclaw- he found Sonic- that was it.

_That isn’t all there was, though, that isn’t what you promised_ , he involuntarily reminded himself.

But that wasn’t relevant anymore. The second part of his promise, the part that he shouldn't have agreed to-

_“When you find him-”_

_“But I don’t know if I will…”_

_“You will,”_ she had assured him, her confidence in his abilities enough to transfer some of that confidence to him. _“And when you do, I want you to promise one more thing; I want you to take care of him, and make sure he’s not alone- just like I’m sure he’ll do for you.”_

And Miles had stupidly promised. He had promised the dying owl something that he couldn’t possibly know if it would turn out. He promised her something to give her some comfort in her last few moments, a promise that his mind had turned into some desperate fantasy of reality, that if he could just find Sonic, if he could just survive until then, then everything would be fine… There wouldn’t be any more late nights spent hiding and moving, there wouldn’t be any days curled up in a cave, listening for sudden sounds while trying to build a working machine, no more storms while he was left alone as the vibrations reached the earth, and the flashes of lightning refused to let him rest.

Because if he could find Sonic, then it would be fine. Then he’d have someone else to look out for, and who would look out for him.

But his hope had been nothing more than a stupid fantasy, since not only did Sonic not remember him, but he seemed to want nothing more than for Miles to leave, which was _great._

Now he was stuck in an unknown world, alone, with nothing but a machine to keep him company while serving as a reminder that he might not be able to fulfill that second part of his promise.

Clutching the device in his hand, he realized he needed to leave this area. There was no point in sticking around, but there was no point in going back to Mobius right away either.

Hey, if it was safe enough for Sonic to be running around freely, then it should at least be safe enough for him to stay a little longer.

Breaking himself off from his thoughts, he decided to get a move on, barely walking a few steps when he nearly tripped on something. Looking down, he saw there was a blanket left where he’d slept. He blinked, wondering why he hadn’t noticed it earlier, and realizing that there was only one likely person to have left it here for him.

Stepping back a little, he gathered up the blanket gently in his arms, folding it carefully in a more portable position before heading off, holding it tightly as he went off to Chaos-knows-where.

* * *

To be fair, it would’ve been beyond lucky for Miles to not have moved since that morning, but there was always hope, seeing that he’d been there the past three times.

“Sure, ‘three times the charm,’ but no one ever tells you what to do for the fourth time,” Sonic mumbled to himself as he kicked a pebble on the ground, trying not to let his mind get ahead of himself, but it was already swarming with thoughts of ‘what ifs.’

“What if he left already?” he asked aloud, the wind rustling the leaves serving as his only reply as he wrapped his arms around himself, giving little protection from the wind.

This struck a thought, as he realized that the blanket he had brought for him was gone, along with the fox, serving at least a little relief that he wouldn’t be freezing to death out there.

Still, Sonic wasn’t one to wait around to apologize, and if the fox was still around, then he was going to find him… preferably in a time-frame that didn’t worry his family, though.

* * *

To be fair, Miles could’ve looked at where he was going on his map, but also, to be fair, he didn’t want to look at the machine right now, so instead he just headed off on his own, alternating between flying and walking, stopping where he had camped for previous nights, before deciding he didn’t want to stay there that night and moved on to the next spot.

The sun was beginning to wain, but he ignored it, even as the shadows started to stretch, reminding him of the night he had snuck out to make sure Longclaw had a proper burial- or as proper as he could manage, even with his meager amount of coins left to pay for it, and even though Longclaw had told him to use the coins for himself… he just couldn’t bear to leave her there.

Clenching his teeth, he forced himself to move faster, wondering if he was as fast as Sonic if it would be easier to forget the past like the hedgehog so clearly had.

Only he apparently still remembered Longclaw. Just not him.

“Just forget it,” he ordered himself, balling his fists before catching sight of a brighter patch of light up ahead, heading towards it without a second thought.

He emerged from the woods onto a cliffside, overlooking the forest below. The place he first arrived on Earth.

Of course he’d come here- it was only logical after he’d spent the past few hours retracing his steps, but at that moment he was startled to find himself there.

Slowly he walked to the edge, dropping the blanket and the Miles Electric softly by the trees as he stepped out, stopping where the ground fell away, and sitting down, swinging his feet over the edge.

“Maybe I should just go back to Mobius now,” he stated to the empty air, knowing at least this way he wouldn’t be hurt when no one replied. “I’m back where I started, and I don’t have anywhere else to go, so it’d be better, right? Better if I just… disappeared.”

No one answered, which was expected, but he almost wished someone had.

It was a strange sensation to be left alone with nowhere to go, no one to hide from, but no one to spend time with either. He really was alone, wasn’t he?

Still, there was a strange sort of comfort in watching the sky turn to orange, so he decided to stay a bit longer, watching as the sun dipped lower into the sky.

* * *

Ok, so by now Sonic was pretty sure Tom and Maddie would be starting to realize he’d be gone for a while, which meant it wasn’t much longer before they started to worry.

Thankfully though, he didn’t have to keep searching for more than a few minutes- though admittedly his search methods weren’t very practical, as long as he found what he was looking for, then it was worth it, right?

And he did. Find Miles, that is.

When he finally found him, the fox was sitting on the edge of the cliff, staring over the forest below, his tails waving along with the wind as it- wait, tails?

Sonic stared, slightly dumbfounded as he wondered how he had never noticed them before. _Just like the drawing_ , his mind supplied, causing a tightness in his chest that he couldn’t quite identify.

“Are you just going to keep standing there?” Miles spoke up suddenly. Ah, so he _had_ realized he was there.

“Sorry,” he replied quickly. “I just never really noticed the tails,” he added with a weak laugh as he resisted the urge to facepalm. Probably all Mobian foxes had two tails- it wasn’t like he could remember- but it was probably a stupid thing to say nonetheless.

Apparently, it hadn’t been a welcome comment either, as the two tails began to move together, giving off the appearance of one.

“Yeah, so what?” 

“Nothing,” he held up his hands quickly. “They’re just… kinda cool.”

“O-oh… thanks.”

“‘Course,” he smiled, relieved that at least this conversation hadn’t turned as bitter as the others. Taking a few steps forward, he stopped a little bit away from where Miles bravely sat on the edge of the cliff. “Is it ok if I join you?”

Miles looked up at him for a second with a hardened expression, like he was looking for an indication of any malice on Sonic’s part, but not finding any, he glanced away again, and gave him a small nod in reply, moving over slightly so he could join the fox, swinging his legs over the edge and looking over the sea of trees that lay beneath their feet as they sat together in silence for a brief moment.

“I wanted to apologize for…” Sonic started, breaking the silence, only to stop short. He wanted to apologize for the whole Longclaw situation, sure, but he realized that there was a lot more than that to apologize for. “Well, for the way I’ve treated you. I jumped to conclusions too fast, and even then, I was sort of a jerk… I’m sorry.”

Miles said nothing for a moment, only looking out at the view below before pulling his legs up and resting his head on his knees. 

“Thanks,” he finally replied quietly, though it would've been hard to miss in the peaceful evening air.

Sonic gave him a small nod, finding himself for the first time at a loss for words… What was he supposed to do now?

He hadn’t really thought this through- Maddie had said the first step was apologizing, and the next step was seeing if the person would accept it, which he was pretty sure Miles just did, so what now? Did he just leave? Was he supposed to strike up a normal conversation? What was even considered a normal conversation on Mobius?

_My job is done,_ he reminded himself. _I can just go now._

But he didn’t get up- he couldn’t. Well, he physically could, yes, but he couldn't bring himself to leave this peaceful scene, so instead, he leaned back, ignoring all the reminders that he should get home before his parents got worried.

“You remember her?” Miles suddenly asked with slight hesitation, breaking through the silence. “You remember Longclaw?”

Sonic looked down at the kit, who’s gaze was still on the scenery below them.“Yeah… I do.”

“I think she would’ve liked it here.”

Looking out on the forest below, Sonic wondered what it would’ve been like if Longclaw had come with him to earth. Plenty of times over the years he had imagined Longclaw here with him, and couldn’t help but feel like she would’ve enjoyed the vast forest and open-air in Green Hills.

“I think so too,” he agreed softly. 

Thinking about the owl had always been something almost painful to do, but it somehow didn’t seem so bad right now. Maybe it was because he’d already had one breakdown for the day and gotten it out of his system, or maybe it was because he wasn’t as scared to lose his memories of her when there was someone else who knew her too.

“She talked about you a lot, you know,” Miles mentioned. "She used to tell stories and stuff like that..."

Sonic’s mind raced, feeling like the whole world had suddenly stopped with those few words. She had talked about him? Swallowing harshly, he forced his mind to resume with the rest of the world.

“Re-really? She did?”

Miles nodded. “I was really young when you left, so... she didn’t want me to forget you... you were kinda like my hero."

“Oh...” he glanced down at the fox again, wishing he could remember just one of those stories himself. Still, there was something about being there that was almost calming him down. Maybe it was the sense of familiarity, or maybe it was just because he hadn’t ever really talked much about Longclaw with someone who also knew her, straying from that topic even in his therapy sessions with himself.

There was something comforting about not running away from his problems.

“I’m sorry,” Sonic found himself suddenly saying again.

“You already said that.”

“No- I mean _yes_ \- but… I just wanted to apologize because…”

“You forgot me,” Miles finished, his words like a well-deserved punch in the guts. “It’s fine. I should’ve expected this, I mean, in the end, we didn’t spend a lot of time together, right? And you didn’t have anyone to tell you stories, so…” his voice broke off, putting them in the quiet evening air again, only it left Sonic feeling infinitely worse as he realized how hard Miles was trying to appear unaffected- and how badly he was doing at it.

He clenched his fists, wondering why his endlessly talkative mind had suddenly gone quiet, placing him in this situation completely alone, so to speak. Instead, the only thing that was coming to mind was the two same words: “I’m sorry,” but it seemed too weak by now, and Miles would probably bush off any more apologies.

“It’s really fine,” Miles assured him as if he had picked up on what the hedgehog was thinking, His voice pushing away some of the previous shakiness, making him sound almost fine, though it was clear to Sonic that he wasn’t. “It’s a completely logical outcome, you forgetting, so it’s ok, really. It’s logical, so… it’s ok... It's logical.”

“Now who’s the one repeating themself?” he asked softly, hoping it’d lighten up the mood, only to wince when he realized how it sounded, shrinking back slightly when Miles turned to glare at him for a moment before sighing and turning back to the view.

“Just… if it’s so logical, then why does it hurt so much?” he whispered. 

Sonic let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. That line was something he could relate to all too well, albeit in a different way. He had stayed in hiding for too long, knowing it was to be safe, to be smart. But it hurt, it hurt so much more than it was worth. 

“You aren’t just talking about me, are you?” he realized. "You're hurt."

“Maybe… I don't know... but it doesn’t matter!” he replied brightly, a disturbing shift in tone. “As I said, I promised her that I’d make sure you were fine. And since you are, then I’d better be headed back to Mobius,” he declared, getting up to his feet like everything was fine while Sonic felt like someone had just poured a bucket of ice water on him when he heard those words.

_“What?_ ” he stood up, feeling again like someone had punched him. “But you said you were in danger- you said you were in hiding!”

“Yeah, I am, but I’ve been doing that for my whole life now,” he remarked. “And it’s easier to hide out on a planet that I know my way around instead of starting from scratch here.” 

“But you’ll be alone!”

“So what? It’s not like I haven’t been alone for _months_ \- I can handle myself.

“Well I was alone for _years_ , and I’m not about to let you go through the same thing.”

Miles looked up at him, registration finally kicking in. 

“You’ve been alone this whole time?”

“Up until recently, yeah.”

“But… you’re not anymore?” he asked, his ears perking up slightly.

“No,” he agreed. “Tom and Maddie… they live nearby- they’re the best. They took me in when they found out about me- and on top of that, pretty much the entire town knows me! It’s nice,” he finished softly, grateful that his life had changed so much, for the better.

“That does sound nice,” Miles nodded. “I’m glad you found a new family, but I should-”

“Stay here,” Sonic finished, surprising himself, probably more than Miles, but once the words came out he realized how much he meant them, determination filling his body. _“Please.”_

The fox stared up at him for a moment, an unmistakable flicker of hope in his eyes before it died out. “No. I’m sorry, I shouldn't have come- you have a new family now, a new life, and I don’t wanna ruin it- I’m happy for you Sonic, really I am, but I don’t have a place here-” but Miles was cut short as the hedgehog suddenly pulled him into a hug.

“I dunno,” he replied. “You seem to fit here just fine.”

Miles tensed at the touch before melting into it, allowing himself to be hugged by the larger Mobian as Sonic held him tighter, desperate not to lose the strange feeling of familiarity that was cast over that scene, leaving him almost certain that deep down he still remembered his brother as the part of his life he was missing.

“I’m not going to force you to stay here,” Sonic stated, still hugging him tightly. “But I do really really want you to stay, if you want to.”

He felt Miles tense for a moment at the question before finally hugging back. 

“I want to,” he replied quietly, unable to null the waver in his voice. “I want to stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tails: ok i’m leaving bye
> 
> Sonic, already dragging him home: my parents are gonna adopt the hell outta you, so shut up
> 
> I hope the perspective changes weren’t too annoying!!
> 
> Normally I’d limit them to once a chapter (or not at all), but I really wanted to show each side of the story, and I sorta felt like it was time for Tails to be included a little more too XD
> 
> Thank you so much for all your comments, they really make my day!!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!! <333


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